weather girl you are the queen of my world
by dance life away
Summary: Senka Poe has been in love with Warren Peace for...well, forever. As a senior, a series of changes cause her to reconsider pretty much her entire life and nothing is like she thought it would be. Especially with Warren. WarrenOC eventual, LashOC. REVAMPED 8/5/12
1. one

**Weather Girl**

Summary: Senka Poe has been in love with Warren Peace for...well, forever. As a senior, a series of changes cause her to reconsider pretty much her entire life and nothing is like she thought it would be. Especially with Warren. WarrenOC eventual, LashOC

Disclaimer: I pretty much claim nothing.

Just a note: I haven't stolen this story from Moontrimmer. It's an old pen name of mine, and when I finally started re-writing this, I realized I had no idea what email I was using two or so years ago.

Project REVAMP/REWRITE: I was working on my magical yearly update and decided to go back and read through the story so far. Then for the next 12 hours I went through and proceeded to revamp every single chapter, and some were almost completely rewritten. Enjoy.

THIS CHAPTER GOT REVAMPED ON AUGUST 4th, 2012.

* * *

**i see you in the shadow**

Senka…yeah, it's an interesting name. Slavic for shadow, or so my mother always told me when I asked as a child. She's a seer, and I guess when she was pregnant with me, she had this vision. She refused to tell me what she saw, of course, no matter how many times I begged. But the vision is what gave her the idea for my name. I can only assume it had to do with my powers. Oh yeah, I'm from a family of superheroes, by the way.

My superpowers are complex. I sort of have weather powers. Storms, basically, but then there's something else. I've always had a kinship with the shadows, which might explain why I can cause tornadoes but not sunshine. Or maybe that's just my personality. Either way, I was four when I first figured it out, my kindship with darkness and shadows. It was right after my Dad left us.

That's not what this story is about, though. In a way, I guess it might be, but no…this story begins with infatuation. In particular, my teenaged obsession with a boy named Warren Peace – a name almost as ridiculous as my own. I still remember the first day I met him like it were yesterday, even though it's been years. Though it wasn't really a meeting, just the first day I saw him.

My first day at Sky High, school for potential super heroes, didn't start off well. I wasn't exactly dressed to impress, and I would have rather faded into the background than have to go up in front of everyone to show off the powers I'd gotten from my coward of a dad. But that's a monologue for later.

"Senka Poe?" Coach Boomer, the big and intimidating man who taught physical education shouted, and I had no choice but to approach. "What's your power?"

It didn't exactly have a name, now did it? So without another word, I closed my eyes and imagined up the biggest storm I could – hurricane force winds, and a wave that came out of nowhere. Except...it fell on Coach Boomer and everyone else in the gym. It made Boomer _love_ me...not. Needless to say, I was horrified when the steam practically shot out of his ears. His anger was apparent and despite the power I'd displayed, his one word would echo in my ears forever:

"SIDEKICK!"

That was it, my fate was sealed. My brothers would be so disappointed in me and it made me miserable for the rest of the day. Hero-support? Really? I thought of myself as so much better than that. I was also convinced it would be a blot on reputation for the rest of my life. What can I say? When you're fourteen everything feels like the end of the world.

But then, by a mere accident, everything changed and my day began looking up. It was between eighth and ninth period, and I was at my locker. I was on my tiptoes trying to reach a book shoved at the back of shelf. I hadn't felt like carrying around all day but needed it for my upcoming English class which would start in approximately three minutes. I probably looked ridiculous standing there and no doubt screamed "freshman!" With a sigh, I'd pulled away and given up. But then I saw him. walking towards me. He was leather-clad with long hair; tacky, yet appealing, and looking like he'd just waltzed out of a rubbish bin or something. I was hooked.

Isn't it sad that he barely knew I existed?

* * *

**Fin chapter**

Long story short: So I started this story in 05: eighth grade. Started this rewrite at sixteen. Currently 21...still working on it.


	2. two

**Weather Girl**

Summary: Senka Poe has been in love with Warren Peace for...well, forever. As a senior, a series of changes cause her to reconsider pretty much her entire life and nothing is like she thought it would be. Especially with Warren. WarrenOC eventual, LashOC

Disclaimer: I pretty much claim nothing.

Just a note: I haven't stolen this story from Moontrimmer. It's an old pen name of mine, and when I finally started re-writing this, I realized I had no idea what email I was using two or so years ago.

Project REVAMP/REWRITE: I was working on my magical yearly update and decided to go back and read through the story so far. Then for the next 12 hours I went through and proceeded to revamp every single chapter, and some were almost completely rewritten. Enjoy.

THIS CHAPTER GOT REVAMPED ON AUGUST 4th, 2012.

* * *

**first day of the rest of my life and i miss you already**

After that fateful first-day-of-freshman-year, I followed Warren like a hawk. With my eyes, I mean. I wasn't a stalker. But it didn't really matter, because even though my crush on him was the size of Jupiter, in reality, he never noticed my existence for even a half of a second. That is, until one day…I didn't know it when I woke up that morning, but looking back, I guess you could call it the first day of the rest of my life. It was the beginning of my life changing for good…but not sure if it would be for the better.

"Senka Marie! Wake up already!"

My mom's voice broke the blissful silence of sleep and I groaned, smushing my pillow over my head in an effort to pretend it was not a dreaded Monday Morning. So gross. I didn't want to get up, didn't want to go to school, didn't want to do any of it.

"Alright, alright, I'm awake!" I shouted back, before rolling myself out of bed and starting my morning routine: shower, blow dry, get dressed, throw school stuff together, run downstairs in time for a glass of orange juice and some toast, before running out the door. No one would ever describe me as much of a morning person. If it happened before 9am, I experienced it while in a complete daze. I couldn't tell you how many bus stop conversations I'd had in my life that felt like a dream. You see, there'd only ever been one kid (beside me) at my bus stop. His name was Charlie, and we both bonded over how much we hated riding the bus. I had my license, but flying cars were kind of difficult to come by.

"Hey Spooky," Charlie said in greeting, just like he did every morning. As usual, his smiling face was disgusting and made me feel like punching a puppy. His nickname for me was also a point of annoyance. Spooky? Really? Where did he even get that one from? We engaged in the normal meaningless chatter, like any other day. When the bus arrived, I grudgingly got on, disgusted with how it was packed full of freshman and obnoxious lower-classmen. Times like that I was thankful for Charlie; we always sat together. He was completely reliable and fun loving, even if his jokes were corny.

"Did your day get any better?" Charlie asked as I sat down, referring to the hellish yesterday I had put up with. Teachers had never liked me much, especially one Coach Boomer. It seemed his personal mission in life was to make mine miserable and I hated him for it.

"Not really," I sighed. "I went home and had to make dinner for Brad and Drew, finish up my mound of homework, and help my mom clean up once she got home."

"Sorry," he added, trying to be sympathetic.

"It's not like it was your fault," I shrugged, and when I did, I both heard and felt my iPod fall out of my jacket pocket. Panic spread through me. If that thing broke, I was dead…and without music. Cursing under my breath, I turned around in my seat and tried to grope around on the floor for it, all the while praying it remained undamaged.

"Missing this?" asked the deep, hypnotizing voice of none other than Warren Peace, love of my teenaged life. I couldn't help the dreamy sigh that escaped me, but then my head snapped up. If I weren't already embarrassed, what happened after that definitely made my cheeks turn red. My head and Warren's chin collided with a loud 'crack' and then somehow I also managed to get him in the nose. It was not one of my better moments.

"Eeep! I'm so sorry!" I squealed, rather unattractively might I add, and quickly grabbed the iPod from his grip before he dropped it. Or worse, chucked it at my head. Warren was totally the type to do something like that. But even after my prized possession was back in my grip, I couldn't help but stare at Warren nervously. _What am I gonna do?_ I wondered. Turn around? Kiss it and make it better? I had a feeling he wouldn't appreciation that last suggestion.

"Watch it!" Warren growled, except it sounded more like 'botch it' than 'watch it' because of the bashing his nose had taken. Before he could threaten to beat the shit out of me, I swiveled around in my seat and made it a point not to look back. What followed was the most nerve-wracking bus ride of my entire life, including the first one. As I got off the bus, I was followed close behind by Charlie, and we wandered over to the grass together awkwardly like we always did. We'd only been standing there a few minutes when I heard someone say my name.

"Hey Senka!" shouted a somewhat familiar voice from across the courtyard. I spotted a sophomore by the name of Magenta; she was a fellow sidekick who could turn into a guinea pig. We'd met at the end of the last school year and since then had hung out a handful of times. I liked her well enough, so with a shrug to Charlie, I approached her and her group of friends. Everyone knew them – after last year's incident, it would have surprised me if anyone at Sky High or the superhero community didn't look up to them.

"Errrr hi," I said awkwardly. I didn't really know Magenta that well, but I wanted to. Her friends? That was a different story. But apparently she felt she was supposed to introduce them to me and me to them. Will, Layla, Zach (aka the Gangster Wannabe), Ethan, and, oh my, Warren. Perhaps becoming friends with Magenta wouldn't such a bad thing after all...

"Guys, this is Senka Poe," Magenta introduced me.

"We've met," Warren commented hotly. By hotly, I mean that he sounded angry. And of course, that he was smokin' both in the literal sense and in the sense that he was a total stud.

I stood there for a little while with them as we waited for the first bell of the morning to ring. I felt Warren's gaze on me, but chalked it up to him still being sore about what happened on the bus. The group of kids was okay, I thought, and could see myself getting along with enough to form something between acquaintanceship and friendship. About five minutes after Magenta introduced me, though, I felt a hand pinch my ass. _What the hell?_ I thought, angrily, but I was also confused. I honestly didn't have a clue as to who would even _want_ do that to me, of all people! Turning around, I scanned the crowd and saw a hand retreat around a corner. In that moment I felt this sense of horror descend on me. I didn't want to believe it. There was no way in hell they could have let Lash Dayton back into Sky High…right?

"Uh, I gotta go," I said calmly, far more so than I actually felt, before stomping off in the direction I'd seen the hand go. When I turned the corner, I came face to face with an all too familiar figure.

"Hey baby," purred the voice of a boy named Lash Dayton. I had to wonder…why wasn't he in hero jail? Why wasn't he in the detention room with Royal Pain? Most importantly, why on earth was he grabbing my hand and pulling me further away from the crowds? I felt like the entire justice system had turned on its head just to spite me.

"Lash, what are you doing?" I asked, incredulous. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Let's just say that I convinced a few important people that I was being forced to do things against my will," his suave voice answered with a grin. I was surprised. But then again, I knew first hand how persuasive Lash could be.

Lash Dayton. What was there to say about him? Or really, what wasn't there to say? My junior year, I managed to catch his eye and his affections. Originally, I found the whole thing flattering. While I hadn't been certain as to _why_ he started liking me, the fact that I grew boobs out of nowhere the previous summer was a pretty sensible explanation. You know, apart from my obviously magnetic personality (sarcasm). Back then I'd seen him as this bad-boy-senior and couldn't believe he wanted me! Me, shy little Senka Poe. We dated for a while, but broke up for a couple of reasons. One being my obsession with Warren Peace and the other the way he would just disappear. Later I found out his casual disappearances were realized to the Royal Pain fiasco. I thought I'd never see him again after that, but to my surprise, there he was with one hand on my waist, pulling me close to him, and the other gripping my hand. For a second I wondered why he'd waited so long to reveal himself. Then again, I lived in my own little world a lot, and on top of that he was in hero class (me in side kick) so if he'd been around the entire year it made sense I hadn't noticed. I did not want to put up with him again, and understandably, I was angry. So angry, in fact, that the bright blue skies darkened and thunder was heard in the distance.

"Geez, sorry, didn't know I was making you that mad," Lash said, looking out into the clouds before slowly letting me go.

"Well you were," I told him haughtily, before adding: "Why couldn't you just stay away?"

"Missed you too much, of course," he answered, a wolfish grin on his face. _Ugh._

I thought that if I stayed for even a second longer I'd explode, so I promptly walked away. Thankfully the bell rang then, and was quickly followed by the mass of students moving into the building. For the first time ever, I was glad to be a sidekick because it meant I wouldn't have to see Lash.

Later in the day, all the seniors were summoned to the gym for an announcement. If I weren't such a blatant rule follower, I probably would have skipped the whole thing. But it's a good thing I didn't, I guess, because the announcement turned out to change my life in a lot of ways. I soon discovered that, in an effort to assimilate us seniors into the world of being heroes with sidekicks, or sidekicks to heroes, we were required to participate in Save the Citizen more often than the lower classes _and_ we would be required to pair up hero to sidekick. As life often goes, I, the person who wanted to be picked the least... was picked first that day. Luck was never much of a lady to me.

"Peace and Poe vs. Lee and Marx," Coach Boomer announced, and all the blood probably rushed from my face.

Yes, I was finally paired up with Warren Peace. If it were a dream, it'd be labeled as best-dream-ever! In real life, though? Definitely not a dream come true. It was bound to be an embarrassing affair. Warren and I were teamed up against sidekick Emma Marx and hero Devola Lee. I didn't know Devola at all, naturally, but I did know she was some sort of attack telepath. Emma and I, on the other hand, had a few classes together over the years. Her miraculous power? She could cause herself to flash the colors of the rainbow.

When Boomer gave us the signal to start, Devola immediately started mind pelting Warren, or at least that's what it looked like. Clearly she didn't consider me a threat, which was understandable at the time. My brothers might have been well known heroes during their time at Sky High but back then I was just Senka Poe, their sidekick little sister nobody knew. While Warren tried to fight off Devola by occasionally powering up, Emma and I just stared at each other. For good measure, she started flashing colors and I had to struggle very hard not to laugh.

"Sorry about this Emma," I apologized, and with reluctance decided to start up a little storm to distract Devola and give Warren a chance to set the bitch on fire. No lightning, though; in a gym it was a bit dangerous, though I wouldn't have minded if Devola got stuck down by lightning. Unfortunately, despite the sudden rain, she was unphased and it also caused Warren to start smoking. Oops?

"You have got to be kidding me," I muttered to myself. I realized that if I wanted to get at least half points for the day, I would have to save the stupid citizen. Running a hand through my hair, a tired, defeated sigh escaped me. _Totally hating life right now_, I thought to myself.

Back in the real world, outside of my thoughts, the storm had caused a surplus of darkness in the gym. That was the funny thing about my powers. I never understood how they were two-fold, but they were. I could create storms but I didn't exactly have power over the weather like X-Men's Storm. I was limited to thunderstorms, lightning, and wind (tornadoes and whatnot). Then, after whatever I could conjure up was at full force, I found myself with the ability to meld into the shadows like they were an HOV lane on the highway. So that's exactly what I did: became one with the shadows in case Devola decided to mind rape me or whatever she was doing to Warren than made him clutch his head as if it were going to fall off. A quick glance to the clock told me I had limited time…as in I couldn't take Devola out in enough time for Warren to recover and save that dummy hanging in the middle of the gym. With that knowledge, taking a deep breath, I sped up. It gave me enough momentum to propel myself forward and, well, "materialize" just before knocking the citizen dummy out of the noose tied around its middle. Not even a second after I fell to the slippery floor, the ending buzzer rang.

The silence afterwards was deafening. It was a stunned silence, I knew. Nobody expected the sidekick to save the day or for her to have a real power. I knew what they thought. But then all the sidekicks in the crowd stood up and started whistling and applauding like nothing I'd heard before. _Please_, I thought, _Please don't turn me into some sort of sidekick champion._ That's what Magenta and her crew were for.Sure, at first, I'd been bitter about the whole sidekick thing, but after spending my entire high school career that way, I'd gotten used to it. I liked the anonymity and I wanted to stay that way. Needless to say, as quickly as possible I fled the scene, Coach Boomer be damned (basically my teenage philosophy in a nutshell).

At the end of the school day, I was plain tired. Tired of people patting me on the back and talking about my apparent victory. Victory, really? That made me laugh. Standing in line for the bus, I felt someone touch me lightly on the shoulder, and boy was their touch _hot. _Not in the sexy way, either. Unfortunately.

"What?" I asked, sounding annoyed. It'd been a long day at that moment I felt my heart beating a thousand times faster than normal. I knew I had to be blushing, too. Damn Warren Peace...sexy touch or not, he held a power over me.

"Nice job today," he exampled simply, and then shrugged. "Also, you're holding up the line."

"Oh, uuum thanks," I said awkwardly, wanting to hit myself, and then scrambled onto the bus and taking my usual place next to Charlie.

That evening, I went home feeling like a complete and utter idiot. After dinner and other obligatory family interaction, I thumped my head against my desk while I was doing homework. Only once, though, because I didn't realize how much it would hurt. My mom happened to be walking by my room at that moment, and stopped when she saw me make a fool of myself. She asked me what was wrong and I just explained how much school sucked. As usual.

"Chickadee," she told me. "Sometimes life deals you a really crappy hand, and you have to play it anyway, even if you'd rather fold."

Marianna Poe, my mother: queen of sound bites. But she also had always been a giver of really great advice. Laying in bed that night, I mulled over her words until I feel asleep with them ghosting across my mind.

* * *

**End chapter.**

BAM! While I kind of like how my shitty sixteen year-old writing compared to now evolves as Senka gets more serious…I had to rewrite this shit before I posted the new chapter.

reviews are love333


	3. three

**Weather Girl**

Summary: Senka Poe has been in love with Warren Peace for...well, forever. As a senior, a series of changes cause her to reconsider pretty much her entire life and nothing is like she thought it would be. Especially with Warren. WarrenOC eventual, LashOC

Disclaimer: I pretty much claim nothing.

Just a note: I haven't stolen this story from Moontrimmer. It's an old pen name of mine, and when I finally started re-writing this, I realized I had no idea what email I was using two or so years ago.

Project REVAMP/REWRITE: I was working on my magical yearly update and decided to go back and read through the story so far. Then for the next 12 hours I went through and proceeded to revamp every single chapter, and some were almost completely rewritten. Enjoy.

THIS CHAPTER GOT REVAMPED ON AUGUST 4th, 2012.

* * *

**i'm alive i'm alive i'm so alive**

It figured that the first time Warren ever acknowledged my existence in a positive way, I freaked out and completely lost my nerve. My mom had been right: life sure dealt crappy hands. I'd spent so much of my life trying to fold that maybe it was finally time to call, raise, and play. Not that I understood anything about poker, so the reference was lost on me. Regardless, I thought it was a good idea, whatever it meant. Maybe, I thought, it would get him to really notice me and maybe I wouldn't have a panic attack afterwards. His girlfriend didn't help things in my mind. They'd been dating since the dance at the end of the previous school year. Her name? Crystal. And boy did that girl have it going on in the beauty department. Blonde, great fashion sense, etc. Lots of things I never had, essentially. Did it make me a bad person that I always wished at 11:11 they'd break up ASAP?

I liked to tell myself things would be different if I were "normal," though it wasn't as if I knew a thing about normal teenagers. They were like another species or something. But that made it easier to assume my life would be better if I were one. Obviously I wouldn't be pining over Warren Peace or worrying about Lash Dayton. If I came from a normal family, though, things probably would have been very different. At least, that was what fourteen year old Senka told herself to feel better _and_ worse at the same time. Blame the family, which she was a part of, thereby transferring more bad feelings to herself. I was a piece of work, wasn't I?

Now, how to tell this story? I received my powers from my father and the only other thing to know about him was that he left when I was three. His best friend in the world was Baron Battle and my mother was the seer whose vision led to his arrest. Brad, one of my brothers, used to say every other day Dad was a coward who wasn't strong enough to face his family afterwards. For me, the only thing I could say I understood was that one day I woke up and he wasn't there. To be honest, I had no memories of him. He was just a ghost whose face I looked at in family photo albums. But we'll get into that later, I suppose.

Within the next month of the Save the Citizen incident, I brainstormed how to put my poker-reference-plan into play. I made it a point to stay under the radar afterwards, but Magenta kept badgering me about sitting with her group at lunch. My excuse was usually that I couldn't leave Charlie by himself, that'd be rude after all... but one day he was out sick and Magenta jumped at the opportunity to force me. I didn't have a problem with her friends and hung around them every now and then, at least, when Warren wasn't around. That day in particular, he wasn't, so I begrudgingly took a seat at their little lunch table and tried to forget that some of them plain didn't like me (Layla, for instance).

"Hey, tomorrow night I'm throwing a party," Will announced towards the end of lunch. "This time my parents won't bust it up, so you should all be there."

I didn't really want to go but within seconds Magenta, who had her arm interlocked with her glowstick boyfriend, started gushing about how much fun it would be and how I just _had_ to be there. For a girl who liked to wear so much fishnet, she was disgustingly cheerful about the parties. I knew then she wasn't about to let me skip it. Her powers might have been limited to guinea pig shape shifting, but when angry, she was scary. Knowing resistance was futile, I relented.

After school, I was walking out of the doors when a hand came out of nowhere and grabbed mine. Not long after the initial contact, the owner of the hand caught up with his appendage and comfortably fell into step beside me. _Lash_.

"Senka, are you going to Will's party this weekend?" he asked, looking at me curiously. I felt secretly angry at whichever school gossip had spread the word so fast, as if saying no wasn't an option.

"What's it to you?" I shot back; suddenly grumpy, I was not in the mood for his badgering.

"Because I want you to go with me," Lash told me, rolling his eyes, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "Just do it. Please?"

I must have been tired or out of my mind or something, because I told him yes. Maybe I'd developed a fever? Perhaps no one will ever know why I said yes, but I did.

"Whatever. Pick me up at eight," I said offhandedly and promptly got on my bus without giving him another look. It hit me, what I'd just agreed to, after taking my seat. Flashbacks to the year before filled my head. The problem between Lash and I hadn't been that we didn't get along or didn't have a good time together. I convinced myself that it could be a good idea, at least in some parallel universe. Suddenly, in a strange turn of events, my biggest problem became scrounging up something to wear. Thus I found myself standing in front of my mother's closet the next day, trying to pick out shoes and a shirt that would go with my jeans. It might have been a party but even at that I wasn't about to wear a dress. Luckily for me, my mother happened to be a fashionable woman; she always had been. She ran her own psychic business, so presentation had to be a priority lest people think of her as a quack.

Two hours later, I stood on my front porch, closing the door in my dark wash jeans, a see through lace black lace blouse, and a pair of heels I couldn't walk in. Don't ask me why I remember the outfit so clearly. I thought being uncomfortable to feel pretty was part of growing up, so I went with it. Lash's face when I opened his car door and smiled at him made me feel like it was worth it. I hoped Warren would be there to see me, too; there with Lash, looking decent, dancing…and doing whatever it was people did at parties. They weren't exactly my expertise. The point was that I wanted Warren to look at me.

"Here we are," Lash announced as we pulled up to the Stronghold house. Jumping lightly out of the truck, I followed him up to the door, where several kids were lounging.

"Hey Senka! You look fabulous!" Layla's smiling face greeted us, but it wasn't hard to tell her smile wasn't genuine and that she definitely hadn't approved of my choice in dates. Good thing I was never interested in gaining Layla's approval.

"Thanks," I said, echoing her sugary sweet and clearly forced voice, and grabbing Lash's hand to drag him inside. Looking back, I blame Layla for what transpired. It was my personal mission that night to prove to her how much I did not care about her opinion. What better way could there have been than to have a good time with a former-possibly-still villian like Lash Dayton?

"What has gotten into you?" he wondered aloud, perplexed by my eager behavior. It was an understandable confusion, given my seeming 180 degree change. In the car, I'd decided that I was going to enjoy that party one way or another, Warren or no Warren. My mother's advice hid at the back of my mind: play the hand you're dealt. I wasn't dealt Warren…just Lash. And I couldn't slap Layla physically, so emotionally was the closest I could get. Dancing made me feel awkward, so I soon convinced him to grab us something to drink. While he was gone, I used the opportunity to scan the crowd for Warren. Despite his status as Will's best guy friend, he was noticeably absent. Lash returned, and together we made small talk while sipping our drinks, which later turned out to be spiked. Turned out that a little bit of alcohol loosened me up and made me receptive to things like dancing.

I'd never known dancing could be so much fun. And let me be clear: it was not middle school slow dancing. It was kind of sad to think I rarely had that much fun with anyone. Considering I sorely lacked friends and spent a lot of time alone, it made sense. I hadn't ever danced like that before, either, and even though being so close to Lash caused me to blush at first, his body behind mine and his hands on my hips quickly became comfortable. I liked it, no doubt about it, no matter how surprising I found the whole situation. I would have liked it without being a little buzzed, even. After a while, I'd turned to face him and we were terribly close to one another.

"Lash," I whispered, smiling slightly as we moved in tandem. My arms went up around his neck. It occurred to me then that the party was probably going so much better than he could have imagined. I didn't even notice myself start to playfully mess with the hair at the back of his neck, so soft in my fingers.

"Hmm?" was his distracted reply, his attentions occupied as he nuzzled against the skin at the crook of my neck.

"Do you want to get out of here?" I asked him, and even though I felt suddenly shy, my right hand moved to rest against his arm gently. At my words, his head shot up met my eyes. He gave me a surprised and careful look. He didn't mean for me to notice, but I saw him pinch himself out of the periphery of my vision. It made me laugh, amused, and that's when he took my hand and led me back to his truck. Even though I wasn't drunk, barely even buzzed at that point, so much of the detail remains a blur. The rush of adrenaline perhaps has erased the details over the years. It was an excited blur, at least.

I remember his hand on the small of my back, helping me up into the car. I remember pulling up to his house, and the way he seemed so excited he stumbled out of his truck. His hands up my shirt, mine down his pants in a daring move. To make a long story short, that was the night that I lost my virginity to Lash Dayton. The next morning, I woke up and felt confused. My eyes opened but I didn't know where I was or why there was someone next to me. The experience was completely disorienting. Sitting up, I looked over to the space next to me and recognized Lash's sleeping figure. That's when it all came rushing back to me. My face heated up as I relived the details of the night. Had I really slept with Lash? Yes, definitely yes – confirmed by the fact that I realized I was naked. Then I noticed the time flashing from the digital clock on his bedside table and there wasn't time to spend too much time contemplating my so-called deflowering. _Shit, _I cursed inwardly. It was Sunday and I always went to have lunch at the Paper Lantern with my brothers on Sunday. _Why me?_ I had to ask myself. _Why does luck hate me?_

Carefully, I slid out of his bed but still clutched a blanket up against my body. I spotted my jeans at the side of the bed, my underwear on the floor by his dresser (I wondered how they'd made it that far from the bed), and tried as quietly as possible to put them on. I found my bra on the other side of the bed, discarded but hanging from the bed post and so I hastily worked to don it. The whole search would have been a lot easier, but Lash's room was a mess, as in a bomb went off level mess. Of course, as luck would have it, it was my mom's shirt which happened to be nowhere in sight.

"What're you doing?" Lash groaned, rolling over to face me with sleepy eyes. I froze dead in my tracks, arms wrapped around my back, one hook of my bra done.

"I can't find my shirt," I said, as if it were obvious, and when I found I could move again, I slipped the last bra hook into place, exasperated. I was sure I looked ridiculous, standing there in just my pants and bra, throwing things around.

"Just take one of mine from the drawer," he instructed, voice thick with sleep and pointing half-heartedly towards his dresser. I nodded and grabbed the first shirt I found; a dark, forest-y green tee with some sort of symbol on it that I didn't recognize it. Without even so much as a shrug, I pulled it over my head.

"I gotta go, mmkay?" I said, at his side, and ran my fingers through his hair unsure of what to do. I hadn't yet decided how I felt about the whole thing, and turned to head for the door.

"Come back to bed, Senka," Lash beckoned, sitting up slightly, and gave me a nice view of his toned chest. Momentarily, all my regret and uncertainty fled. I was sorely tempted to take his advice, until I reminded myself that my _brothers_ were waiting. My older, buff, overprotective brothers who flipped their shit any time I wasn't exactly where I said I'd be. They were probably freaking out.

"I have to meet my brothers for Chinese this afternoon," I informed him simply, and a quick glance at the clock told me I was already late.

"Let me drive you, then," he volunteered. Rolling out of bed, he tugged on a pair of pants and didn't even bother with a shirt. I gulped…_oh my_.

His agility surprised me. We were at the car within minutes and quickly switched the car in gear. We sat in silence while he drove, but luckily the Paper Lantern wasn't located very far from his house. We pulled up to the small restaurant at the same time Brad and Drew walked in.

"I'll call you later," I said, getting out. "Catch you."

He was quick; I hadn't gotten very far before Lash caught my arm lightly. He pulled me to him and kissed me, much more than a see-you-later kind of kiss that left me in a slight daze even after he moved away.

"See ya," he said with a grin, and was back in his car, pulling away before I could blink. I attributed his grin to the way he left me: standing there with a bewildered look on my face.

"Yeah...see ya," I muttered to myself and walked inside the restaurant. I easily spotted my brothers sitting in a booth over on the other side of the place, and went over to join them. But that morning was destined to be full of surprises, it seemed. The last thing I expected was for Warren Peace to be our waiter. I knew his work schedule embarrassingly well. Since when did he work Sundays?

* * *

**Fin chapter**

BAM. Leave me reviews and I'll love you forever333


	4. four

**Weather Girl**

Summary: Senka Poe has been in love with Warren Peace for...well, forever. As a senior, a series of changes cause her to reconsider pretty much her entire life and nothing is like she thought it would be. Especially with Warren. WarrenOC eventual, LashOC

Disclaimer: I pretty much claim nothing.

Just a note: I haven't stolen this story from Moontrimmer. It's an old pen name of mine, and when I finally started re-writing this, I realized I had no idea what email I was using two or so years ago.

Project REVAMP/REWRITE: I was working on my magical yearly update and decided to go back and read through the story so far. Then for the next 12 hours I went through and proceeded to revamp every single chapter, and some were almost completely rewritten. Enjoy.

THIS CHAPTER GOT REVAMPED ON AUGUST 5th, 2012.

* * *

**i've been dying just to see you by my side to know that you are mine**

"Was that just Lash Dayton's truck I saw you get out of?" Brad asked. Typical! Of course he grilled me as soon as I sat down in the booth -it was only natural.

"You seriously cannot date that guy again," Drew stressed, pinching the bridge of his nose in exasperation.

I didn't know what I was supposed to say to my two psycho brothers. My train of thought went something like this: option one was that I could lie. Option two was also lying. Both options had a sub clause in which my brothers knew I was lying. I sighed.

"Speaking of," Drew continued. "Where were you last night? I swear if you say with him, I'll—"

"You'll what?" I asked, tired. "Because that's exactly where I was."

"WHAT?!" both of them yelled, upsetting the two other customers. Drew almost choked on his own spit.

"Brad, Drew – you guys want the usual?" Warren walked over then, addressing my brothers. They were very frequent customers.

"Uh, yeah, that sounds good," Brad mumbled, still in shock.

"...Senka. Oh, hi," Warren said, and he looked at me as if he'd never seen me before or something else I couldn't put my finger on.

"Hello?" I responded, uncertain. "Can I just get some white rice?"

"Yeah, yeah, sure, it'll be right up," he muttered, scribbling on his little waiter note-pad. I couldn't help but notice he was looking particularly fine that morning. _Wait, no. Bad Senka!_ I scolded myself. Considering I just spent the night with Lash and felt confused about it, the last thing I needed to be do was ogle Warren Peace. Even if it was my favorite past time.

"Senka Marie Poe!" Brad fixed me with a glare that could freeze hell. "What on earth have you gotten yourself into?"

I gulped. Loudly. Both of my brothers' eyes were focused on me. It made me really nervous. It also happened, with luck like mine, that as soon as I began to explain the situation, Warren waltzed up with our food. Of course, I didn't notice, because that would have been too convenient.

"I was at Will Stronghold's party last night, and for some reason I went with Lash, right? Well, and one thing led to another..." I recounted, and winced, bracing myself for the oncoming storm.

"Shit!" Warren exclaimed, almost dropping my rice onto my lap. My blushing was out of control after I noticed him. If I had been aware of him, my mouth would have remained shut. With a groan, I dropped my head onto the tabletop, barely missing my plate of rice. At least one thing went right. The last thing I needed was rice in the hot mess that was my hair. I had an uncanny and correct feeling that my patience would be tested in the coming week.

LINEBREAK~~~~~~~LINEBREAK~~~~~~~LINEBREAK

"You're dating Lash?!"

Such were the first words out of Magenta's mouth that Monday morning, loud enough for everyone on the Sky High lawn to hear.

"Shh!" I hushed her. "Don't say it so loud!"

"Don't say what so loud?" Zach asked, butting into the conversation. I wanted to hit him.

"Everyone saw Senka and Lash together at Will's party on Saturday," Layla inserted unnecessarily. Nevermind, Zach would be off the hook. Layla had my attentions, and not in the good way. It was her I wanted to hurt.

"Uhm….well…." were the only words to escape my mouth. It was all very ineloquent and embarrassing.

Suddenly, everyone knew and I always really hated gossip. All it took was one person – one solitary, lone, anonymous person – to hear something they shouldn't have and then everyone and their mother knew my business. Sure, I'd said all of those things about playing the hand life dealt but it happened too fast for my tastes.

"I thought you dumped that punk a long time ago," a voice from behind me said. "Aren't you supposed to be smarter than that?"

I turned to find none other than Warren Peace. And to think I'd been certain things couldn't get any worse than Layla opening her fat mouth. I didn't notice it then, but I should have been surprised at his mention of "dumped a long time ago." At the time, I thought nothing of it and busied myself trying to say something witty in return.

"Guess not," I replied with a shrug. "Besides, he can be nice when he wants to be."

The last part wasn't a lie. Lash, despite his reputation, had it in him to be a cool guy when he wanted. For instance, he'd taken me out to dinner that Sunday night and to my surprise, acted the gentleman. Not once did he mention the fact that we'd had sex. He'd been almost tentative and I'd found it actually kind of sweet.

"I find that hard to believe," Warren commented. Had that been bitterness?

"Good thing he's not your boyfriend, then," I shot back. The corners of his mouth tightened. I sighed; what a mess. That was the first time I thought of Lash as my boyfriend, but it wouldn't be the last. Warren looked grumpy but didn't say anything else, and neither did I. I was left wondering, though, where his sudden concern appeared from. Warren and I were not friends, not yet. When we were in the same group together, he acted like I wasn't even there. It'd been hard to miss the way he avoided me.

I walked away after that. Yes, I left Warren standing there. It was just one more thing I didn't want to deal with, wanted to put off until some other time. I couldn't, though. The encounter bothered me the rest of the school day, frustrating both me and my teachers.

Lash and I decided to hang out later. That was three days in a row of spending time together; odd considering four days before I'd been ready to strike him down with a gigantic lightning bolt. There were so many questions I could have been asking: _am I really that fickle? Should I maybe rethink this? _But I didn't ask myself those questions. Instead, I threw myself into what seemed to be working, and that meant Lash Dayton. Based on Lash's surprise when, after he put his truck into park and gave me a what-now look, I took the opportunity to lean over and kiss him, I was not the only person wondering if Saturday night was a fluke. It might have been, but I'd taken the world into my own hands and decided to go for it. Play, raise, whatever. I went all in. Return of the corny poker metaphors indeed. In the same amount of time it took most people to even start a car, Lash and I had somehow made it inside his house and on the second floor. Or at least, that is how my memory tells it.

"Come on, come on," Lash muttered, impatient as he jiggled his door handle. I, on the other hand, was busy; I lavished kisses along his jaw and slid my hands up his shirt and across the taut expanse of his stomach. He groaned, half in impatience and half in desire, and his door finally flew open. We clumsily stumbled into his room and onto his bed. While I might have run the show on the other side of the door, when his lips found mine and there was a tingly feeling all the way to my toes and I knew he had the reins.

"Touch me, please," I whispered breathily, and let's just say that asking twice was unnecessary.

Afterwards, I stretched leisurely while Lash lay next to me. The little noises I couldn't help but make as I did so caught his attention and his gaze fixed on me. Despite my initial uncertainty about the whole situation, most of that was disappearing rather quickly. Maybe Lash never stopped liking me. I thought about asking him, but then pushed the idea away for the moment. It could wait.

LINEBREAK~~~~~~~LINEBREAK~~~~~~~LINEBREAK

After a few weeks, my life fell into a comfortable rhythm. I began to feel less awkward around Warren (thankfully) and started to spend more time with Maj and the others. Warren, though rough and tough on the outside, was more relaxed in those smaller, social situations. No, he didn't turn into a soft and sentimental teddy bear, but he turned less caustic and more of a friendly-sarcastic/caustic. It made me feel special, that after all those years I was finally on an amicable basis with Warren Peace! Will was a nice guy, as well, even if Layla and I were in thinly-veiled-dislike with one another. She was just…in many ways, perky and cheerful in a way that got under my skin. Her voice reminded me of nails against a chalkboard. Everyone else liked her yet she and I were never made to get along, it seemed. Zach and Ethan I found a funny pair, almost as much as Maj and Zach, but in a loveable way. They made me laugh without fail. I lived in that comfortable rhythm for the next few months. I spent lunch blocks and sometimes weekends with the gang (what else could I call them?), went on dates with Lash (my mother kept her eye on our relationship but did not try to rule my life. Brad and Drew were another story…), and bus stop mornings with Charlie. For the first time since I could remember, I felt like I had friends – I had a _life._ And it felt good.

One particular weekend, I was looking forward to a trip with the gang to Maxville. We all lived in the suburbs, and understandably a day trip to the city made it to the top of my list of things to be excited about. The night before the trip, I spent the night at Lash's house for the first time since our initial…well, you know. I'd been wary about it, afraid of what my mom would say and if Drew would pummel Lash, etc. That night, though, I felt confident my mother and I came to an understanding. Other parents might criticize her for the way she handled it or me in general, but I was thankful. She was never interested in being controlling or managing my life for me. She was more interested in knowing what I was getting up to, instead of leading me to hide it.

The next morning I woke up with a positive feeling. I didn't know why but I thought it was going to be a special day. Slipping out of the bed, I grabbed a towel that looked semi-clean (Lash's house was never a bastion of cleanliness), and decided to take a shower. One of the other deterrents for me about spending significant time at Lash's house lounged drunkenly on the couch downstairs but I refused to let it bother me. His dad never gave me any problems, and I knew Lash wouldn't have let him. After we began dating, I'd learned a lot about Lash's life that I hadn't known before. It also gave me surprising insight into his personality.

My shower was short and cleansing. With a sort of jump in my step, I walked down the hall back to Lash's room, my towel wrapped around me. I might have felt comfortable staying over, but I did move a little fast down the hallway. Sliding back into the room, Lash's awake face greeted me.

"Well hello," Lash grinned, and his hands rested behind his head in a relaxed manner. "How about you get yourself over here and forget about Maxville?"

"How about no?" I suggested with a laugh. I grabbed my clothes off the surface of his dresser and pulled my nice, clean shirt over my head. I'd been looking forward to the trip for two weeks and I wanted to go out and enjoy an afternoon with my friends.

"Come on, baby," he whined. "I can show you a better time than they can,"

I sighed, but he hadn't succeeded in making me feel guilty or changing my mind. Instead, he'd done the opposite. His whining annoyed me and his crude words were met with the sound of my jean zipper and silence on my part.

"Lash, for real," I admonished, turning to him with a frown. "It's not every day I get to do stuff like this with them. So don't be a jerk,"

Without looking at him, I dug around for my flats, and quickly slipped into them. I went through a mental checklist in my head that I had everything I needed - checking my pockets and purse. Someone beeped a car horn outside.

"That's my ride," I announced, but he didn't have a happy look on his face. "I'll call you when we get back, mmkay?"

"Yeah, sure," he muttered. I leaned down to kiss him, but he rolled over onto his stomach. I rolled my eyes. _Whatever. _

I left his room with a sigh and quietly slipped out of the house. Will's car sat outside, packed full with people who I were now my friends. They smiled at me, and I smiled at them. I got into the car, next to Warren, and for the next twenty minutes we all just talked.

"Have you been thinking about what your sidekick name is going to be?" Layla asked, feigning politeness. .

"Um, actually, I've been looking into colleges," I said, nervous. "I'm not sure I even want to be a sidekick."

Silence filled the car at my statement. The entire car! I felt so embarrassed and didn't want to talk about it.

"You could easily be a hero," Warren commented, bringing an end to the awkward silence.

"Oh, no, it's not that," I explained. "I just don't think I'm interested in that kind of profession."

I'd finally put it out there, finally vocalized feelings I'd hid for at least a year and a half. When I started Sky High, I told myself entering the hero/law enforcement profession was how things were supposed to be. Even my mother, while retired from hero status, remained involved in justice. But even as a child, ever since I discovered my powers, I was unable to ignore the nagging feeling that I didn't want them. I wanted to be normal, always had. Normalcy – the very phrase was music to my ears.

Except it made me weird to the people I went to school with. A freak, even, which was ironic. I didn't know how to make them understand, and so instead, I changed the subject. Maybe one day, right?

* * *

**fin chapter**

AND BAM. REVAMP. blah blah

I love reviews333 though you don't have to tell me about how time passes weirdly. I am acutely aware.


	5. five

**Weather Girl**

Summary: Senka Poe has been in love with Warren Peace for...well, forever. As a senior, a series of changes cause her to reconsider pretty much her entire life and nothing is like she thought it would be. Especially with Warren. WarrenOC eventual, LashOC

Disclaimer: I pretty much claim nothing.

Just a note: I haven't stolen this story from Moontrimmer. It's an old pen name of mine, and when I finally started re-writing this, I realized I had no idea what email I was using two or so years ago.

Project REVAMP/REWRITE: I was working on my magical yearly update and decided to go back and read through the story so far. Then for the next 12 hours I went through and proceeded to revamp every single chapter, and some were almost completely rewritten. Enjoy.

THIS CHAPTER GOT REVAMPED ON AUGUST 5th, 2012.

* * *

**i had a dream last night and she looked just like a dream**

My excitement over our Maxville trip was short lived. What everyone failed to tell me was that we were going to spend multiple hours at the Maxville Museum of Art. Maybe it made me a killjoy, but I hated art museums with a passion. The fine arts never interested me, could never captivate me, could never connect with me. I also happened to be terrible at pretending to have a spiritual epiphany at the sight of a bunch of colorful squiggles on a canvas. We spent almost the entire time at the museum, and by the time dinner came around, my mood was more than just sour. It was grumpy. Luckily, Warren seemed to share my opinion on art. We finally headed out to dinner and everyone could tell Warren and I were relieved to be free. Zach, on the other hand, was a great actor; he spent the time saying semi-intellectual things about the paintings. Enough to fool Magenta, but it wasn't enough to trick me. I was sure that if I broke into the Hallelujah Chorus, he would have readily joined.

"I've heard this place is really great," Layla said, pointing to a somewhat dingy looking food place in downtown Maxville. I was skeptical but we decided "as a group" to eat there anyway.

"It actually isn't too bad, despite the exterior appearance," I admitted after our food arrived. After thoughtful deliberation, I decided to go simple and ordered a grilled cheese. Much to my surprise, it did not taste like shit. It turned out to be much better than I would have thought.

"Don't judge a book by its cover!" chirped Layla, and I gave her a withered glare. I kind of wanted to launch my spoon at her face. Before I could complete the action, however, my cell phone rang. Layla was lucky – she'd been saved by a ringtone.

"Sorry guys, I have to take this," I said as I glanced at the caller-ID; it was my Mom. It worried me that she was calling. She never was the kind of mom who called to check up on her children; our relationship had always been one of intense trust.

"Senka? Honey?" My mother's near frantic voice filled my ears.

"What's up?" I answered, stepping outside to take her call. "What's wrong, Mom?"

"Out of curiosity," she began. "You haven't felt like you've been followed, by any chance, have you?"

"...Noooo?" I said slowly, suspicious.

"Nothing strange has happened to you today, while you were out?"

"No Mom, we've had a real boring day trip to the art museum - absolutely nothing out of the ordinary," I told her with certainty. "What? What's going on?"

"Oh, nothing, I was just having a Mom moment. Bye!"

An intelligent voice inside of my head whispered not to believe a word she said. Something had to have been up even if she didn't tell me what. All and all, it became the icing on top of the cake of a bad day that had supposed to be awesome. I felt paranoid and anxious, but sucked it up and walked back inside to sit between Ethan and Warren.

"Everything alright?" Warren asked, eyebrows raised.

"I have no idea," I answered truthfully.

On the way home, I fell asleep - which was great, and all, because I felt so tired. But I had the strangest dream and I remember it so clearly:

In my dream, I stood on the moon and stared out at Earth like it was no big deal that I was _in motherfucking space on the MOON_. Then I heard someone call my name over and over again. When I turned to face the voice, the only thing there I could see was a set of foot prints that led off into the distance. Curious, I followed them further and further away from my starting point. After what felt like years, I spotted a figure standing not ten feet away from me, and I knew despite the androgyny of the spacesuit it wore that it was a man. He was standing next to the American flag that was always the first thing I saw in my mind when I thought of the moon. I started to approach him, almost sneaking, but he must have sensed me because he turned his head to look in my direction. Shocking blue eyes met mind but as suddenly as the dream began it ended and I woke with a start.

Then the top of my head connected with Warren's; while I slept, he kindly let me use him as a pillow. Bam!

"Aurgh!" he exclaimed, recoiling. "Way to wake up, Senka,"

"Sorry!" I said, but was distracted by the pain in my head. Also I felt a strong sense of déjà vu…

"At least it wasn't my nose this time," Warren joked, and so I shot him a smile. I tried desperately to quiet the butterflies in my stomach when he smiled back.

"I'm taking you to your house, right?" Will asked, suddenly, and completely killed the moment. "Not Lash's?"

Warren's smile abruptly disappeared. I felt an intense urge to kick the back of Will's seat. _Thanks a lot, dufus! _

"Just my house," I reminded him, tight-lipped. I was silent the rest of the short ride to my house. When I glanced over at Warren, I noticed he seemed very occupied; he must have been thinking about something very deep…. (Either that or he had a very intellectual-looking blank stare).

"Bye guys," I said, giving a slight wave, when Will pulled up to the curb. The sound of the door sliding open jolted Warren from his stare and his eyes fell to me. Brown on blue and other romantic clichés but I couldn't move.. The moment reminded me vaguely of my dream, but I shook it off and shut the door.

"I'm putting my foot down; when I say no, I mean it," my Mom's frustrated voice echoed from the kitchen. She usually wasn't a pushy woman, but that night she was. I figured she must have been talking business or something.

"Mom, I'm home!" I shouted, just to let her know I'd arrived. After peeking my head into kitchen and her giving me a nod, I made me way up to my room. To my complete surprise, Lash was sitting on my bed when I opened the door. I really liked him but right then I was about to lose my mind.

"What are you doing here? How did you get in here?" I choked out, full of surprise, and quickly slammed the door behind me. My frustration could not be communicated into words.

"You didn't call, and after a while, I thought I'd just wait for you," he explained, shrugging casually like it was totally normal behavior.

"Lash, you can't just waltz into my home whenever you feel like it," I told him, as if it were obvious. Which it should have been. In my exasperation, I had begun to develop a headache. I felt lightheaded and dizzy and I didn't want to deal with the boy sitting on my bed.

"Geez, alright, I'll keep that in mind," he said, looking at me strangely. "Are you alright?"

The dizziness got really bad, then, and the edges of my vision blurred. Outside, a storm must have begun because lightning struck, and the blue-white tendrils illuminated the sky.

"I think I'm going to faint," I announced softly, but everything turned hazy, and then black.

I had fainted before, but that time was different. It was unique. I fell in a state of semi-consciousness where I could hear someone saying… something to me? My brain saw the lightning flashes, and repeated them over and over; they tried to tel me something in some sort of language I didn't understand.

"Senka! Senka!" Suddenly, I became aware that my mother knelt above me and shook my shoulders roughly.

"Ouch! Mom!" I cried out, and it caused her to instantly let go.

"What happened?" Lash asked, next to her, and his concern was evident.

"I don't know, what were _you_ doing in _her_ room?" countered Drew, who seemed to me to have appeared out of nowhere. I'd only been conscious for five seconds and my brother already started harassing my boyfriend, who was an idiot. Meanwhile, my mother was frantic.

"I must have forgotten to eat something," I lied. No, I definitely had stuffed my face at the restaurant earlier that evening. "Mom, stop freaking out. Drew, leave Lash alone. Lash, let me escort you to your truck before my brother beats you up,"

I'm still not sure how I got them all to listen to me. It must have been the fact that I fainted, but to my amazement, they all complied with my instructions. After I was able to gather myself together again, I grabbed Lash's hand and walked with him outside to his truck.

"Are you sure you're okay?" he questioned, his face the picture of seriousness.

"I think so," I answered shakily and gave him a smile. He was clearly not convinced, but I didn't want to talk about it. To distract him, I grabbed his arm lightly and rose on my tip-toes to touch my lips to his in a sweet kiss. He responded earnestly, of course. After a while, I pulled back gently.

"I'll see you later," he said, taking the cue and got in his car.

"Bye," I waved, before drawing the cardigan I threw on in the hustle tighter around me. Once inside, I went straight for the bathroom. I hadn't been in the mood for anyone to bother me, and well, there's never a place to hide like a bathroom. Walking in, my reflection caught my eye and I turned to face it fully.

I never looked a thing like my mother. She had curly, honey-colored hair and light green eyes that were always framed by sleek, professional frames. Her peachy complexion always perfect, she had the slim, boyish figure of a runway model to top if off. My brothers both shared much of her looks. They were all-american looking, always had been. I alone bore the features of our absent father. Once as a little girl I'd found a picture of him buried at the bottom of a drawer. Even then our likeness had the power to startle me. We both had the same straight, medium brown hair; the same fair skin with a soft dusting of freckles across the nose; the same startling blue eyes; the same nose, jaw, neck, forehead…

My figure also happened to be the polar opposite of my mother's. Marianna Poe was all angles and points, from her high cheekbones to her bony hips. In her slimness, my mother was the beautiful woman in the world. A lot of daughters think that, but with my mother it was very true. I, on the other hand, was made up of what she affectionally called "Polish hips," breasts that made life difficult but apparently attracted Lash, broad shoulders, and strong thighs. None of it was necessary bad; I hadn't thought of myself as ugly, ever. What unnerved me was where the majority of my features came from. I never understood why it was only me that looked so much like him, who had his powers. It was always very difficult on me, left me with painful feelings.

With a sigh, I looked away and quietly left the bathroom. It was late - I should have been in bed already. The last thing I needed was to fall asleep at school the next day. Hopefully, I wouldn't faint there either. Outside, the thunder and lightning kept up. That's how I fell asleep that night; lulled by the whispers of the lightning. The best lullaby.

* * *

**fin chapter**

can't believe I've gotten so much done. what is this magical fuckery?


	6. six

**Weather Girl**

Summary: Senka Poe has been in love with Warren Peace for...well, forever. As a senior, a series of changes cause her to reconsider pretty much her entire life and nothing is like she thought it would be. Especially with Warren. WarrenOC eventual, LashOC

Disclaimer: I pretty much claim nothing.

Just a note: I haven't stolen this story from Moontrimmer. It's an old pen name of mine, and when I finally started re-writing this, I realized I had no idea what email I was using two or so years ago.

Project REVAMP/REWRITE: I was working on my magical yearly update and decided to go back and read through the story so far. Then for the next 12 hours I went through and proceeded to revamp every single chapter, and some were almost completely rewritten. Enjoy.

THIS CHAPTER GOT REVAMPED ON AUGUST 5th, 2012.

* * *

**at the touch of your hand at the sound of your voice at the moment your eyes meet mine**

My favorite thing about being a sidekick was that, after a while, when they ran out of super-hero related crap to teach they let us take real classes. I'd been particularly glad when it happened about, oh, my junior year, considering I've been interested even then in college. Between my history and (pointless) Hero Support class that Monday, Lash approached me in the hall. Well, actually, it was more like he grabbed me and pulled me into the nearest closet. Except at the time I didn't know who pulled me into the creepy janitor's closet. The culprit wrapped their arms around my waist and I felt their hot breath against my ear. Without even thinking, I gave them a forceful elbow to the gut, plus a slight shock courtesy of my powers.

"The fuck!" a voice exclaimed as quietly as possible, and even before I turned around to face the figure I knew who it was. Lash. Whoops?

"That's what you get for sneaking up on me, you jerk!" I whispered angrily, but with my hand on his arms guided him to sit on the floor as he clutched his stomach.

"I didn't expect you to attack me, Senka," he retorted, his voice still more of a painful grunt than normal. In the low light of the random janitor's closet type space he'd pulled me into, he looked pathetic and I almost felt sorry for him. "I just wanted to get you alone to ask you something!"

"Okay then. Ask!" I told him, still looking at him like he were crazy. Sometimes, his complete and utter lack of social standards appalled me.

"What's going on between you and Warren?"

His question more than caught me by surprise. It floored me. I didn't know where he'd gotten the idea that something was "going on" between Warren and I. There hadn't been anything going on - we were kind of friends. Friendly. I still had a major crush on him then, but to my knowledge Warren didn't have those kinds of feelings for me.

"We're friends, Lash, just friends," I said, and even if I secretly wished it weren't…it was very much the truth.

"Oh, I know," he began, which I found confusing. "But I can tell you still like him. How do you not see the way…just…I'm not dumb,"

"When have I ever said you were dumb? I don't think that!" I exclaimed, and felt a bit like I was drowning. How had he figured out my crush on Warren? Well, that I still had a crush on Warren. It wasn't as though I'd ever mistakenly called him the wrong name or talked about Warren excessively. I thought of myself as a good girlfriend. None of it made any sense to me.

"I see the way you look at him when you think no one's watching," Lash explained. "There's something different about the way you smile at him compared to me. You make little gestures at him as an excuse to put your hand on his arm, or whatever. Do I need to go on?"

"Lash, I…" I tried to think of something to say, but nothing came to my mind.

It was so confusing for me. Despite my feelings for Warren, I also had feelings for Lash, and that's what made things the most difficult. Lash and I had fun together, he was a good guy, albeit a bit strange sometimes. The most important part? He cared about me. He'd cared about me all along. Lash hadn't needed me to prove myself at Save the Citizen to notice my existence. And there he was, worried I might leave him for Warren Peace. I couldn't ever say with certainty I would say no to Warren if, by some miracle, he confessed feelings for me, but I did know for sure that hurting Lash would never be my intention.

I had been so absorbed in my thoughts, I almost let him slip away. Lash had turned to leave, and had his hand on the door knob when I reached out to stop him, but he only shook me off.

"Please, just let me say something for a minute," I pleaded; he turned to look at me. "I'm not going to say you're wrong. I've been infatuated with Warren for a long time, but there's something you're not taking into account,"

Admitting it to his face was hard. He flinched when I said it aloud. He probably had been hoping he was wrong, paranoid. I wondered how long he'd noticed and kept silent about it. After all, we'd been dating for three or four months by that point.

"What's that?" he asked, quiet, and it broke me a bit, hearing him sound sad instead of demanding.

"How I feel about you! You're my boyfriend, not Warren Peace and I don't mind things the way they are. I _like _things the way they are, in fact! I…I want to be with you!"

"Good," Lash said after a long moment of silence. "Because I want to be with you, too,"

Suddenly, we were at each other, all over each other, our lips meeting in an angry and desperate way. His hands were everywhere and mine were gripping his hair, his arms, maybe both at the same time. Something passed between us then, something silent and forceful. It occurred to me along with it that as much as I had spent my high school career mooning over Warren…I didn't want to do it anymore. It didn't seem like it at the time, but I was moving on with my life.

"Lash…stop…" I protested between kisses. "Seriously…"

With a slight shove, I pushed him away, breathless. He stumbled backwards a step into the shelf, but regained his balance. I took in his disheveled appearance and felt proud I'd help make him that way.

"We have to go to class," I explained. "Or, at least, I have to go to class,"

He cracked a smile and I laughed. He gave me a hug - a surprising but still nice gesture. With a light kiss, we parted and went our separate ways. The weight of the world had been taken off of my shoulders, or at least part of the weight. If only I knew what to do about Warren. I'd spent so long with him in my head that I didn't know how to get him out. All day long, scenarios played out in my head. I could…confront him, in some way? Simply telling him I'd been in love with him for the greater part of my high school career, but since I'd finally opened my eyes, if he could kindly stop being so attractive and appealing? No, that wouldn't work. Needless to say, I felt out of it during school. Charlie, good old stable Charlie, kept asking me if I was alright every five seconds. Quietly, I would reply that yes, I was, and to quit bothering me about it. My mother was the same way; she'd gotten off work early that day (something about not feeling too well), and bombarded me with a slew of questions; was I feeling alright, did this have anything to do with Lash, blah blah?

Sitting alone in my room, a solution came to me. I was sure that I'd found a way to purge myself of Warren Peace. Slipping into my shoes, I headed over to the Paper Lantern. It was a little chilly, so I had to go back inside the house to get a jacket, but after that, I felt totally focused. I walked into the restaurant with purpose. It was probably a little scary, actually, but I took a seat at a booth. Luckily the place wasn't very busy. When Warren spotted me, he came over to greet me.

"Hey, Senka," he said with a slight, very Warren smile. "What are you doing out here so late?"

"Well, I'm actually here to talk to you," I admitted. "But until you're on break or whatever, I'll just have some iced tea or something,"

He looked at me suspiciously, but instead of taking my order, he took hold of my hand and led me to the back of the restaurant. Apparently he hadn't been very busy at all.

"So what did you need to talk to me about?" He asked, curious. Taking a deep breath, I prepared myself for what I was about to do.

"Here's the thing Warren," I said. "I just think you should know that I've been crazy about you ever since I first ran into you back in freshman year. I've spent my high school years waiting for you to notice me, so much so, that I've completely ignored the people who do. It was actually really pathetic and I don't know how you missed it. But I needed to say I'm done with that phase of my life now. I'm happy being friends. I needed to tell you to get you of my system and move on like a normal person,"

In the few moments after my confession in which Warren looked completely dumfounded, I felt spurred to action. Grabbing the front of his shirt, I pulled him towards me and put four years' worth of frustration into a single kiss. For maybe a nanosecond, Warren was simply too stunned to do anything, but he surprised me when he came to life and responded with enthusiasm. I hadn't expected that to happen, and I definitely hadn't expected for us to start making out behind the Paper Lantern. Like a slap in the face, my senses came back to me and I pulled away from him roughly. Our faces remained close but we just stared at each other.

"Senka, I've…" he began, but I raised my hand in a gesture to stop him.

"Now that I've done that…I, uh, really have to go," I said quickly, turned, and…well, I hate to say this, but I ran in the opposite direction. I had to – I didn't trust myself otherwise.

"Mother fucker, mother fucker, mother fucker!" I shouted, kicking the edge of a building with such force that I might have broken my toes. I felt panic rush through me -_what on earth was I going to do?_ As I was seething, it started to rain. Not just rain, but pour. I was forced to stop inside a corner coffee shop and wait out the storm. It was a rather nice place; very humble…I liked it. On the other side of the room, a man sat sipping a cup of coffee. For some reason, I felt like I should have known him; he was eerily familiar to me but I couldn't place where I knew him from. When he noticed my staring, his head looked up from the tabletop. Something happened - I couldn't possibly explain it in the slightest, but it was kind of like I'd been struck by lightning when our eyes met each other. Although I was momentarily stuck to my seat, as soon as the freeze was up, I bolted. I needed to go home. Through the rain, I didn't notice the man followed close behind.

"This is taking too long," I muttered, impatient. I decided to use my powers somewhere other than Sky High; melding into the shadows, I started to move with alacrity to my house. My room was my destination. There I knew I would find something guaranteed to keep my mind off of that evening's events: homework! Never my favorite activity, but it would do. I hadn't been working very long when the doorbell rang. I assumed someone else would get it, but then it rang again. With a sigh, I ran down the steps and glared at my brothers, who sat on the couch as if there wasn't a person standing at the door. To my surprise, I opened the door and saw the odd man from the coffee shop.

"Can I help you?" I asked, and at the same time, my mother walked in to see who was at the door.

"Senka, who's there?" she asked, peeking around the doorframe.

"Marnie - it's good to see you," the man said with a blinding smile. My mother froze.

"Mom?" Brad, Drew, and I all questioned in unison.

"Oh my god," she said aloud. With that, she fainted! Right there next to the front door!

We didn't question the man, he wasn't the immediate problem. All four of us were suddenly at Mom's side. I touched her forehead gently while Brad held her hand. My mother was not the type of woman who fainted.

Mysterious...

* * *

**fin chapter**

don't ask what is up with these new titles because hell if I know!


	7. seven

**Weather Girl**

Summary: Senka Poe has been in love with Warren Peace for...well, forever. As a senior, a series of changes cause her to reconsider pretty much her entire life and nothing is like she thought it would be. Especially with Warren. WarrenOC eventual, LashOC

Disclaimer: I pretty much claim nothing.

Just a note: I haven't stolen this story from Moontrimmer. It's an old pen name of mine, and when I finally started re-writing this, I realized I had no idea what email I was using two or so years ago.

Project REVAMP/REWRITE: I was working on my magical yearly update and decided to go back and read through the story so far. Then for the next 12 hours I went through and proceeded to revamp every single chapter, and some were almost completely rewritten. Enjoy.

THIS CHAPTER GOT REVAMPED ON AUGUST 5th, 2012.

* * *

**one more crucifixion one more cross to bear you're a hole in a photograph**

Time stood still with all of us crowded around my mother. She came to eventually, much to everyone's relief, but then surprised us. A usually calm and pleasant woman, immediately she glared at the strange man and laid into him.

"How dare you show up here?" She said at him, sitting up while she tried to blink away tears from her eyes. Brad, Drew, and I all stared, confused. We had no idea what was going on.

"Marnie," the man said, trying to explain. "You've got a right to be angry with my gone for so long. But you I've had a lot of time to think about things, and I realized I had to come back. I have to make amends."

"Oh really? Amends?" she asked, eyebrows quirked, the look on her face one of doubt. "You won't find forgiveness with me Joseph. Hope you have better luck with your children!"

She turned away from him and the look on his face was a sad one. Meanwhile, my own jaw dropped all the way to the floor_. My father _had knelt next to me on the floor, he'd seen me in the coffee shop. It all made sense after that revelation – why he'd given me such an eerie feeling. I didn't know what to say, as usual; a million ideas buzzed through my brain but none of them seemed right.

"The hell, man?" Drew asked, angry, and Brad echoed him. They both let loose a string of curses. Unlike me, it seemed they knew what they wanted to say. As my brothers bombarded him with questions and accusations, my mother slipped away, probably to her room. I, on the other hand, could only look at him. I studied his face, which betrayed little of what must have been going on in his head. I wondered how he could possibly keep his cool in such a situation. I certainly couldn't. That man was my _father._ The gravity of it crashed heavily onto my shoulders like a tidal wave or something else equally as epic. There were so many questions that bubbled up inside of me upon seeing him, so many things I wanted to ask but didn't know how. It would turn out to be too overwhelming for me. I knew I had to leave. Calmly, I stood and walked up the stairs to my room. In the commotion of the event, no one noticed. Once I'd closed the door, the calm was gone and instead I was frantic. I grabbed a random assortment of clothing and stuffed them into my backpack. With it in hand, I knew who I wanted to call at that moment. It wasn't Warren, not Maj, not even steady but strange Charlie. I pulled out my phone and dialed a number, waiting for the person to pick up.

"Lash?" I asked upon hearing the groggy 'hello?'. "Can you please come and get me as soon as possible? I can't stay here. Please?"

"Yeah sure," he said, and sounded worried. "What's wrong?"

"I'll explain it when you get here," I assured him and then the phone call was over. I rummaged around my room to make sure I'd grabbed enough things to last me a while. I decided I was going to ride out the worst of the storm at Lash's house. Carefully, I slipped downstairs and quietly made my way to the door. The key was not to make eye contact. _Don't look at them and they won't look at you. Don't look at them and they won't look at you. Don't look at them and they won't look at you. _I repeated the phrase over and over again, thinking if I said it enough it would become true.

"Where are you going?" Drew's voice boomed. "You can't just leave!"

"Oh yes I can," I informed him, snappy in demeanor. "And I will. If you need me, you have my number."

I made a point not to look at my mom just then. I couldn't have imagined what the whole thing felt like for her. The love of her life, who abandoned her and their children because he didn't know how to deal with grief, suddenly appeared on her doorstep asking for forgiveness. Asking if he could make things right. But I was part of that – he'd wronged me too, all those years ago, and I needed time. I wasn't like my brothers, able to face that kind of situation head on without any preparation. Lash beeped his horn outside and I left, giving my family a weak wave and shut the door.

Outside, Lash waited for me in his truck. He smiled at me when I got in, and although it was a simple enough gesture, it comforted me. I said nothing, and he accepted it; we rode in a silence that cradled me, somehow. The silence, or more the nature of it, spoke volumes about our relationship.

"So, you gonna tell me what's going on?" It was his first question after we sat, comfortable, on his bed. I sighed.

"Have I ever told you about my father?" When he shook his head no, I laid back on his mattress and braced myself to tell the story.

"My parents…where to begin. My dad was a bartender when they met, the best friend of my mom's best friend's brother. They hit it off instantly and all that whirlwind romance stuff. They had only dated a month when he proposed. Things were great, they had my brothers, dad became a well-known hero. Yada yada. But the most important part of the story was one person: Baron Battle," I explained softly. "He was my dad's best friend, and the brother of my Aunt Katianna. She's not my actual aunt, just my mom's best friend ever. Things started to spiral right around the time I was born. I think you know how Baron's story goes, of course; ends in villainy and tragedy. But my mom played a big part in that – one of her visions led to his arrest and my father just didn't know what to do, what to feel, I guess. One day we woke up and he was gone."

Lash laid down next to me and took my hand while I spoke. He could tell it was hard for me to talk about.

"You remember all this?" Lash asked after I finished, clearly shocked.

"No," I admitted. "It's fact. I know it from my brothers, Aunt Katianna, stuff like that. But the point is that tonight…tonight my father showed up at our door claiming he's here to make amends,"

Unsurprisingly and in typical Lash fashion he responded with a poignant "that asshole." Part of me had been tempted to agree, nod along and pretend it was that simple. But deep down I knew it wasn't. My father was a part of me; we looked alike, had the same powers, apparently both liked to bolt when things got tough, and he was my _father._

"It's easy for you to say," I snapped, voice full of emotion. "Your dad has always been in your life as a drunk and a deadbeat. It's pretty clear what his priorities are. It's easy to write off your dad when he's a permanent, if unwanted fixture. Not so much when you don't even remember him! I want to know him, Lash, but I'm so scared!"

By then, I had started crying, so Lash wrapped his arms around me. I didn't feel bad about crying all over him, either. I can't say how long we sat there, but he said later I fell asleep around midnight.

Staying over at Lash's for several days was…interesting. Strange. I constantly avoided my mother's phone calls and continued to go to school like nothing had happened. After a week of guilt, I finally made the decision that it was time to go home. I was done running away. Lash, however, had other ideas.

"Stay here, Senka," he urged me. "Tell your mom you're not ready to face him. I don't want you around him. I won't let him hurt you."

"Excuse me?" I asked, blown away by his response. _I won't let him hurt you?_ It made anger creep into my bloodstream. Lash might have been my boyfriend but it was my life we'd been talking about. My father. My family. My decision! If I wanted to go back, there wasn't anything he could do about it.

"It's in your best interest," he explained, and then shrugged as if it were nothing. I pinched the bridge of my nose in exasperation.

"It is up to me to decide my best interest, Lash," I informed him, my anger evident and resolve like steel. "This isn't your business."

His eyes flashed at my words, and he reached out, grabbing my wrists in a forceful grip. We were both upset with one another, and it showed in how tightly he held my wrists.

"You, Senka, you're my business. And right now, you're still too wrapped up in your emotions to think about this clearly," he said, trying to plead with me. "I'm going to keep you safe no matter what it takes!"

"No, no you're not! I don't want your help, _Jake_!" I spat, surprised how venomous I sounded using his given name. Jake was the name of his father, the drunken, wife-beating man who was probably downstairs while we spoke. He recoiled from me like I'd slapped him.

"Don't you dare call me that, I'm not like him," Lash retorted, clearly hurt. Regret hit me then, and I knew I'd gone too far, but couldn't stop.

"Oh, I dare! How can you get to talk about my father like you know him but I can't make obvious comparisons?" The words slipped out of my mouth without my control. "You're trying to control me, just like I'm sure he did with your mom. She was smart – getting away from both of you!"

"Just shut up!" he yelled, throwing something from his dresser across the room and without thinking, he struck me. I froze, and so did he; we were both shocked. I pushed him too far, and I knew it. Lash wasn't a violent man, but even I couldn't believe what I'd said. If the situation were reversed, I would have done a lot more than hit him. His eyes widened in shock when my own hand went up to my face, and he quickly backed away from me.

"I'm sorry, Senka, I'm so sorry…I didn't-" Lash started to freak out. "Leave. Get out. Take your stuff and _go_."

He looked so frantic, so sorry, so desperate, so hurt, but then he also looked hateful. _Did he hate me? _I couldn't help but wonder. I backed away slowly, grabbing my bag and whatever was in it.

"I'm, uh, gonna go home now," I said, quiet, and ran a hand through my hair tiredly. "I…need some air."

I turned to the door, and something in me hoped he would keep me from leaving. But he didn't. Instead, he sat on his bed, head in his hands. Oh, how I wanted to go over to him. I wished we could kiss away what happened between us and wake up the next morning with clean slates. It wouldn't happen that way, though. It couldn't. Lash needed to face his own demons and I needed to face mine. We couldn't have done it together. I always believed we all have our moons, complete with both light and dark sides. When it came time to look at that dark side, there wasn't a person in the world who could do it for you. Sadly, I closed the door and ended up sitting on the curb. I needed a ride home and I was too distracted to remember I had superpowers. Warren Peace was the only alternative I came up with, so I dialed his number.

"Hey," I said after he picked up. "Can you come get me? Please? I'm at Lash's house."

"I guess," he replied, and hung up. Such was the second time in a week I'd been forced to call someone to pick me up from an unpleasant situation. For about ten minutes, I sat awkwardly in front of Lash's house. I knew he could see me from the window of his room if he wanted. _Look at me_, I thought, willing him open the window and call my name. Then I heard the familiar hum of Warren's bike in the distance. He pulled up to the curb, stopped the bike, and handed me his extra helmet, all without words.

"Thanks," I smiled, fitting it snugly on my head. His eyes saw the marks on my wrists from Lash's grip and the still-red one on my face, but did not address them specifically.

"Wanna tell me what's up?" he asked, looking ahead and I straddled the bike.

"Nope," I said simply. Without another word, I wrapped my arms around his waist and hoped the conversation would end there. Luckily, it did. We pulled up to my house and unfortunately, my father very clearly sat alone on the front stoop. All I wanted was a drama-less existence. I wanted my old life back. Instead, everything was turning into a crazy reality tv show.

"Uncle Josef?" The words came from Warren's mouth. My heart felt like it'd stopped beating momentarily.

"Warren!" my father greeted him with a grin. "I didn't know you and Senka knew each other."

_What the fuck what the fuck what the fuck what the fuck what the fuck_

"What a coincidence! I had no idea you two knew each other either," I exclaimed sarcastically. "So, _Dad_, why don't you explain?"

"Dad?" Warren asked, eyes wide. The look on his face was sharp and surprised. It many ways it mirrored my own. I wondered why my life couldn't feel normal for even a measly second. The whole thing was unfair and what would happen next felt like a knife to the gut.

"Warren, I'd like you to meet my daughter, Senka," my father said and smiled, as if it was some sort of fun game. "Senka, I'd like you to meet my godson, Warren."

I looked at Warren and he looked at me. We both looked at my dad, then back at each other. Any passing stranger could have read the looks we wore: _come again?_

* * *

**Fin chapter**

wham bam thank you ma'am!


	8. eight

**Weather Girl**

Summary: Senka Poe has been in love with Warren Peace for...well, forever. As a senior, a series of changes cause her to reconsider pretty much her entire life and nothing is like she thought it would be. Especially with Warren. WarrenOC eventual, LashOC

Disclaimer: I pretty much claim nothing.

Just a note: I haven't stolen this story from Moontrimmer. It's an old pen name of mine, and when I finally started re-writing this, I realized I had no idea what email I was using two or so years ago.

Project REVAMP/REWRITE: I was working on my magical yearly update and decided to go back and read through the story so far. Then for the next 12 hours I went through and proceeded to revamp every single chapter, and some were almost completely rewritten. Enjoy.

THIS CHAPTER GOT REVAMPED ON AUGUST 5th, 2012.

* * *

**i've been locked inside your heart shaped box for weeks**

"What?" was the only word I was able to vocalize. I stood, frozen to the spot, and was not able to believe what I'd just been told. I didn't know how to just accept that my father had been more of a dad to Warren than to me. I felt cheated, heartbroken, confused, furious.

"You're telling me that instead of taking care of your own family, you went to help someone else's?" I asked, the disbelief in my voice clear as a bell.

"I did what was necessary…I went where I felt I was needed most," he explained, like that were enough to answer all my questions.

A rushing river, a raging fire, something intense overtook me. He didn't have a clue what he'd really done. _I did what was necessary; I went where I was needed. _It had been obvious to me then, how he thought of himself and his decision. How he'd justified it. Oh yeah, what a real martyr. I'd spent so much of my life up to that point bearing the shame of what he had done. I saw it every time I looked in a mirror, every time my mother looked away from me. My father was a contradiction to me: such an essential part of me which I had longed to know and yet hated, all at once.

"I couldn't even stand to look at your mother after what she had done," he added, and I remember being so glad to sense some remorse. "I was so full of anger back then."

"Don't you blame her," I snapped. "Bottom line? You abandoned your family."

He flinched when I said that, but it didn't make me feel bad; the truth hurt. In fact, I felt a surge of satisfaction at the sight of his pained expression.. Mister-I'm-So-Nonchalant-About-Being-A-Jerk finally showed some emotion. For a supposed whirl-wind romance, how little support he'd shown in the stories I knew of him surprised me, didn't make sense. Neither did his behavior when he tried to get back into my life.

"I'm not debating that; you want _why_? I'm telling you. After I left, I was afraid of how Warren would turn out with the proper father figure. So I stayed with him," He continued, but the twinge of annoyance in his voice said more than he did.

"What about me?" I asked, voice breaking. "Didn't it matter what I needed? Didn't I matter?"

The exchange was no longer about my mother, or Warren, or even my father. It was about me and the way my father had hurt _me._ Brad and Drew had a few memories of him, but I didn't have any of those. I had no memory of what it was like to have a dad. When he left and decided Warren needed him more, he deprived me of ever having that and I wanted him to hate himself for it.

"Senka…" he began, but trailed off. I felt frustrated – why wasn't he getting it? _Say you're sorry, _I begged silently. _Tell me it was the worst mistake of your life and even though you can't make it up to me you want to try! _

"This isn't the best time or place to do this, Senka," he continued, voice softer and he grabbed my hand. "Let me take you out to dinner, spend some time with you. We can talk all you want then."

I yanked my hand from his grip. I refused to be placated like a child throwing a tempter tantrum because she couldn't have cookies or who was crying because someone stole her lunch money.

"What if you've fucked me up for life?" I yelled, not so much a question as a challenge, no longer caring that we stood on my front lawn. "Did you ever even think of me? What if now I'm the one who turns out to be a villain? What if I'm doomed to a life of failed relationships because I never saw a healthy one between my parents?"

At some point, Warren moved to stand behind me and squeezed my hand. But after the last part of my outburst, I felt him shift and mutter something under his breath. I spun angrily to look at him.

"What was that Warren? I couldn't hear you. Speak up if you've got something to say," I spat, bitter, and remained unfazed by the look in his eyes. I should have known he wasn't the type to back down. Maybe it was his powers, but I swore his hand heated up in mine.

"Don't blame him for your shitty life decisions concerning Lash," he said, loudly this time, and the look I gave him was colder than his ex-girlfriend's cyrokinesis. My glare said several things – namely, it asked where he got off making comments like that about my relationship. Considering his had recently failed, he lacked an expert distinction. It also told him, very plainly, to butt out.

"Lash?" my father asked, and turned to regard the two of us with an inquisitive look.

"He's my boyfriend," I explained, still glaring at Warren.

"Who is a _villain_," Warren added, but his comment only fueled my father's interest and my anger.

"He is not!" I argued. "One time! One time he was manipulated by a crazy, hot bitch into doing something he regrets! It doesn't exactly put him on par with someone we all know, now does it?"

"Don't even bring my father into this, he definitely never hit—" Warren retorted, but I my voice cut him off before he could even hope to finish his sentence.

"Don't talk about things you don't understand, Warren," I replied, and I tried to control myself and keep the storm brewing over head at bay.

"How can you even—"

"I think you both need to calm down," my father interrupted us both, his voice insistent. He watched the sky with worried eyes; dark clouds were rolling in. Warren also began to smoke – I promptly let go of his hand before it burned me. For that moment, we did nothing but stare at each other and not in a happy way.

"Warren, we'd better get you back to your Mom," he began, taking charge. "Senka, I'd like you to seriously consider what I suggested earlier. If you decide to hate me, I understand, but I'd like you to at least be informed when you make that decision."

I looked at him glumly, hated how I felt jealous of the way his stern hand lead Warren back to his bike. Warren looked at his boots and my father seemed to lecture him before he let Warren ride off. The sight filled my head with a thousand memories that weren't mine, but should have been.

"Whatever," was my short reply. I walked into my house without looking back.

_My father. _Even the idea of him had always been so abstract in my mind. I didn't know what a dad was like. All I'd ever had were ideas that lived only in my head. But there he was, in the flesh. My emotions were going crazy inside of me, jumbled and tangled and ripped apart into little pieces. Something inside of me came alive, terrifying in its power, and it overwhelmed me. I broke into a run; somewhere along the line I became a shadow. Time passed but I wasn't aware of it. When I stopped, my lungs burned and my feet ached. The sky opened up and poured itself out while I stood in the open. I didn't care; understandably, I'd always loved the rain.

Rain, thunder, lightning – I'd loved it all. As a kid I was always glued to the weather channel, fascinated by the insane storm chasers. _I'm gonna grow up and do that! _I told my mom. That fascination began and remained a part of me which came from one place: the man whom I watched lead Warren back to his motorcycle earlier that day. I decided then I would let him have his bit, his hour or two. I wasn't sure how my mother would take it, wasn't sure if my brothers would hate me, I wasn't sure if Lash and I would ever make up, I didn't understand what Warren's deal was…but there was one time I had managed to figure out: I had to give my father the chance he wanted. If not for him, for me.

* * *

**Fin chapter**

hey look there's some nirvana.

does it have anything to do with this chapter?

WHO CARES?

review, lovelies. review3


	9. nine

**Weather Girl**

Summary: Senka Poe has been in love with Warren Peace for...well, forever. As a senior, a series of changes cause her to reconsider pretty much her entire life and nothing is like she thought it would be. Especially with Warren. WarrenOC eventual, LashOC

Disclaimer: I pretty much claim nothing.

Just a note: I haven't stolen this story from Moontrimmer. It's an old pen name of mine, and when I finally started re-writing this, I realized I had no idea what email I was using two or so years ago.

Project REVAMP/REWRITE: I was working on my magical yearly update and decided to go back and read through the story so far. Then for the next 12 hours I went through and proceeded to revamp every single chapter, and some were almost completely rewritten. Enjoy.

THIS CHAPTER GOT REVAMPED ON AUGUST 5th, 2012.

* * *

**guess i'm wishing my life away with these things i'll never say**

His apartment was simple. It was the first thought I had when I followed my father through the door to his apartment in downtown Maxville. I don't know if it surprised me but it'd been the first thing I noticed. There were no items or memorabilia hanging on the walls, no family pictures displayed for the world to see. Not even one of him and Warren.

Up to that point, our meeting – there was no other appropriate name for it – was equally as simple. He'd shown up at my house without a car. I asked him how he was planning on getting anywhere. His reply? "Follow me." He melded into the shadows, then, and I didn't even question my decision to follow him.

I wish I could explain what it feels like to become a shadow, but nothing I could ever say would do it justice. Nothing I've ever experienced can match it. Melding is, and always has been, the closest thing to perfection that there is in this universe. The experience of doing it with my father? It was priceless. We raced along alleys and streets, we passed speeding cars on the highway. Something clicked into place for me, then. It wasn't like a cheesy Disney-esque film where the Dad would return and suddenly life becomes perfect and happy ending! It wasn't like that. But for the smallest moment I felt in sync with the world. It gave me a clearer perspective to take into the experience I was about to have. I believed him – that he wanted to make amends. It felt right even though things would never be _right._

"What do you think?" I was jolted from my train of thought by his question. My eyes took in the kitchen table: small, but it had a simple meal for two sitting on it. For us.

"It's nice," I said simply, and took the seat he ushered me into. He smiled at me and sat down, and at first things were quiet between us. I watched while he dished out the food he'd prepared – spaghetti and salad. Nothing fancy but I liked it that way.

"So Senka," he said and finally broke the silence. "Tell me about your life."

Such an open ended question; one I didn't feel like I had any answers to. I wished I knew what sort of specifics he wanted to know about me. Tell me about your boyfriend…tell me about school…tell me about your friends, even. They all would have made better, easier, questions.

"Well…" I began, but still felt uncertain. "I'm a senior at Sky High and a sidekick but that's a whole story unto itself about Coach Boomer and I. I'm not totally sure what I think about the idea of spending my adult life in spandex and following around someone whose powers are 'superior' to my own..."

I made it clear by my tone of voice and the finger quotes I put around 'superior' that I found the hero-sidekick dichotomy ridiculous. It was obviously just a way to feed hero superiority complexes. Then again, as the so-called "inferior," it was easy for me to see it that way.

"I wouldn't say I have a lot of close friends. There's a boy at my bus stop who I spend time with at school, and then a while ago I started hanging out with Warren and his group through a girl named Magenta. These days, though, I spend a lot of time when my boyfriend Lash. He hates you, by the way," I added, as if it were super important information.

"Does he now?" my father asked, and he sounded amused. "Is that the boy Warren was talking about?"

"You mean the boy he was complaining about?" I responded to his question with my own. "But yes. Now, your turn."

"There isn't much to tell," he admitted with a shrug, but the look I gave him let him know I wasn't going to back down. "I've continued my work as the Storm Starter, but now-a-days I work alone. I front as a journalist."

"Let's talk about why we're actually here." I said pointedly, interrupting his speech.

"Okay, if that's what you want."

Yes, it was exactly what I wanted. I didn't want to hear things I could get from googling his real name or his super hero name. Which, by the way, I found hilarious. Josef Storm was his real, legal and given name. If he hadn't left and divorced my mom, my name would have been Senka Storm. I thanked whatever god was listening for small miracles.

"You have to understand, first, how difficult a time that was not just for me, but for all of us. Your mom, Katianna, Warren's mom…" He explained, playing absently with the fork in his hand. "I'm not proud of things I did. Your mother distanced herself from me and I didn't know why; Baron was disappearing for days at a time and I just knew something wasn't right. But I didn't want to accept the truth about my best friend. You can understand that, can't you?"

I nodded, and he continued:

"Marnie—your mom, that is…when she came to me and explained she was going to the authorities, I was irrational. I knew it was the right thing for her to do, I understood, but at the time I was so clouded by humiliation and anger. I blamed her for what had become of Baron for a long time, even when I knew it wasn't her fault," these words he said with a tired sigh.

"When I left, I thought it was for the best. I couldn't even look at your mother. I thought about taking one of you – you, Brad, or Drew – with me but I couldn't do that to her. If I was going to leave, I was going to do it for good because I was convinced that it was the only way to do by right by everyone, not realizing there was no right in the situation. I distracted myself by taking care of Warren in Baron's absence. Leticia tried a couple of times to get me to go back, but I refused. By the time I'd realized my mistake, I figured it was too late."

"What changed your mind?" the question slipped from my mouth before I even knew what I said.

"Warren started talking about a girl named Senka Poe. I realized I couldn't hide away in shame forever – that you and your brothers and even your mom deserved so much better than that," he said, eyes suddenly on mine. Shocking blue on shocking blue just like in my dreams. In any other situation I would have focused on the fact that Warren talked about my to his godfather, but clearly, that situation was about me and I paid the comment no attention.

My eyes fell to my food, then, and I started to eat as if we hadn't just had an earth-shattering conversation. We ate in silence, but we carefully watched every move the other made. One time when I looked up he caught my gaze and tried to hold it, but I dropped my eyes back to my plate. Would I ever forgive him? It was unclear. He'd given me my answers…I just didn't know what to do with them.

~~~~LINEBREAK~~~~~~~~~~~LINEBREAK

We stood on the front lawn, and I knew choice family members were watching me from inside. I wasn't sure what to do – shake his hand? Wave awkwardly? None of the options were ideal.

"I hope we can get together again soon," he told me quietly, breaking the silence. I looked up at him, at his tall and strong figure which seemed so gentle to me in that moment. His sincerity shone in his eyes but so did his hesitation.

"Okay," I mumbled while my fingers played with the doorknob. "See you."

I looked back before closing the door, but he'd already gone. My life felt so uncertain. So many things were up in the air and stability was a far ways away, if even on the horizon at all. I sighed, closed the door, and found my mother sitting on the couch. My brothers were nowhere in sight. My "hey mom" didn't get her attention, and it worried me.

"Mom?" I asked again, a bit louder. Her gaze turned to me but seemed distant-no, more like unfocused all the same.

"Hmm?" was her soft reply.

"Are you alright?" I inquired, and then moved so that I was next to her on the couch. She looked so tired, more tired than I'd ever seen her.

"I'll be okay, don't worry," she responded, and patted me lightly on the knee. "Your dad has just shaken up things around here, that's all."

"Yeah," I muttered in agreement. Shaken up was the perfect way to put it.

* * *

**Fin chapter**

you guys should review. because that'd be awesome.

also AVRIL LAVIGNE THROWBACK


	10. ten

**Weather Girl**

Summary: Senka Poe has been in love with Warren Peace for...well, forever. As a senior, a series of changes cause her to reconsider pretty much her entire life and nothing is like she thought it would be. Especially with Warren. WarrenOC eventual, LashOC

Disclaimer: I pretty much claim nothing.

Just a note: I haven't stolen this story from Moontrimmer. It's an old pen name of mine, and when I finally started re-writing this, I realized I had no idea what email I was using two or so years ago.

Project REVAMP/REWRITE: I was working on my magical yearly update and decided to go back and read through the story so far. Then for the next 12 hours I went through and proceeded to revamp every single chapter, and some were almost completely rewritten. Enjoy.

THIS CHAPTER GOT REVAMPED ON AUGUST 5th, 2012.

* * *

**it seems like every time i try to make it right it all comes down on me**

My father mysteriously appeared out of nowhere wanting to make amends, my boyfriend and I got into a fight and were currently ignoring one another, and I had kissed one of my good friends, only to find out my father left my family to be a father figure to him.

Needless to say, my life was officially a mess.

That next few weeks had to be, hands down, some of the worst ones of my life. I felt like I was in such a fog; I was mad at Warren for opening his big fat mouth and confused about how to deal with my father's role in his life as well as his burgeoning one in mine. It hadn't begun as intentional, but I stopped hanging out with that group so often. Lash and I were, well, I didn't know what we were actually, but we didn't know how to act around each other and so we didn't see each other much. At home, my brothers still felt bitter about the way I'd seemingly forgiven our father and my mother still looked like someone sucked the life right out of her. Strangely enough, the only constant was the one thing my life had been always been missing: my dad.

He called me every Wednesday and took me out to dinner every Friday night. We hadn't been back to his apartment, which was alright. He talked to me about lots of different things; deep topics like my experience was growing up to more recent, easy topics: what was my favorite class at the moment? Which teacher wanted to kill me the most? With my world falling down around me I clung to him like a lifeline.

"You really shouldn't take your frustrations with me out on Warren," he said, one night during a phone conversation.

"What are you talking about?" I asked, suddenly agitated.

"It's not his fault I took care of him after I left, Senka, so don't blame him for that," my father explained with a sigh.

"If Warren's been mopey, you can tell him that's not why I'm upset with him," I replied and promptly hung up. Within several seconds, my phone vibrated again "What?"

"That was rude of you," he admonished, clucking his tongue.

"Well I think it's rude of you to complain for Warren when we're supposed to be having a phone conversation," I returned. "I don't call you to hear about Warren."

"I just wanted to make sure you aren't angry at him for the wrong reasons,"

"Well, I'm not angry with him because of you, just confused on that front It's just...there are some things you don't know about Warren and I, and on top of that, he's acting like an annoying older brother hounding me about Lash all the time."

"What does he say about Lash?"

"As though he hasn't complained to you about it, I'm sure," I scoffed. "He's so convinced that he's right, I'm wrong, and Lash is the villain. He doesn't respect that I can make my own relationship decisions. It's driving me crazy because I don't even know what's going on between my boyfriend and I right now but neither does Warren!"

"What do you mean by that?" he asked, and I could almost picture his head tilting to the side in the way I'd discovered he liked to ask questions.

"We had an argument that day Warren dropped me at the house," I explained. "Things were said and done that shouldn't have…both of us are guilty of hurting each other. I'm giving him time to work through his problems, but it's been like two weeks or something. I hate that we have to dance around each other in the hallway but I don't know what else to do."

"Let me give you some fatherly advice," he began. "If you care about him, go see him. Trust me on this one, Senka."

"Since when are dads supposed to give out dating advice to their daughters that isn't 'don't date until you're thirty?'" I asked, laughing, but considered his advice seriously all the same.

"Senka, I think we both know that by choice I lost my right to be that kind of father. And as someone who knows failed relationships from personal experience, I would prefer to help you make good decisions to keep you from repeating my mistakes," he replied.

"Oh...well thanks," I said. "I think I'll take your advice. Talk to you later - bye."

With a click, our phone call ended but I had another one to make. I had to go through with his advice before I chickened out. Taking a deep breath, I dialed the familiar phone number and waited, nervous, for someone to pick up.

"…Senka?" asked the voice on the other end; Lash.

"Hi…!" I exclaimed, feeling pathetic. "I...I want to see you. Do you want to meet me somewhere? The coffee shop on Main, maybe?"

"Oh, uhm, yeah...be there in twenty," he said, awkward, and then hung up.

After I hung, I realized I was still in my pajamas. In a haste, I threw on the last of my clean clothes, which meant a skirt. That didn't say _desperate to have you back pleassseee_, did it? I hoped it didn't. I glanced at my watch and dashed out of the house, thankful it was dark so I didn't have to drive. I reached the coffee shop right on time, and Lash's truck was already out front and I spotted him sitting outside. I gulped, but shoved my nervousness back down into my stomach, and approached him. Lash was visibly surprised by my eagerness.

"So, uh, what do you want to talk about?" he asked, his grip on his mug so tight I waited for it to break.

"No coffee for me?" I teased, nervous.

"You're the one who asked me here," he pointed out. "So say what you came here to say."

His reaction didn't bode well in my mind. I thought he wanted me to disappear, but I couldn't. Whether I liked it or not, though, I felt he was right– I needed to say what I went there for. I took the seat beside him, not across from him, and hoped he didn't mind the way our knees touched. A glance at his hands showed his grip on the cup had tightened.

"I hate this," I said, and everything started rushing out of me. "I hate this terribly awkward and painful whatever it is that's between us now. I wanted to give you time but I am so tired of giving it to you. I'm sorry if you're not ready but I hate the space it's caused between us."

Lash let out a long, relieved breath, and his grip visibly loosened before he responded. I took it as a good sign and prayed for the best. I could understand if he hated me for bringing out a monster in him, even if only for a second. He regretted what happened, I knew it even in the nanosecond after he hit me. Our argument had spiraled out of control (_No_, I corrected. _I started to spiral out of control and he wasn't strong enough to not go down with me._)

"I never wanted space," he told me and then reached over to grasp my hand. "I just wanted you."

"You told me to get out. I thought you never wanted me to come back," I said, so relieved at the skin-to-skin contact.

"Are you kidding? I was afraid I'd hurt you again," he explained, looking away from me. "I hit you, Senka…_hit_ you. I won't ever forgive myself for it. You shouldn't be with me."

"What? Lash—" I choked out, leaning closer to him. Suddenly I feared things were taking a turn for the worse. That was not going the way I had planned it in my head. I knew he made a mistake – when I crossed the line he lost control of his anger. But I was not afraid he would do it again. My mind flashed back to the way he practically threw himself to the other side of the room when he realized what he'd done.

"I had it all backwards that day about your dad. It wasn't him I should have been worried about. I should have known I'd be just like _him_… I won't let myself do to you what he did to her," he babbled, and it broke me. Despite the fact that we were sitting outside a coffee shop I took his face between my hands.

"You are _not_ your father," I told him, my voice strong in a way I didn't know it could be. "I forgive you, Lash. Do you hear me? I forgive you and I _trust_ you."

"How? How can you forgive me? How can you trust me after what I did?" he asked, desperate.

"I know everyone still thinks of you as this big, tough bully and criminal," I told him, and let go. "But they don't see you the way I do. They don't know how sorry you are, they don't see you right now. I trust you because I see how terrified you are. I trust that you won't let yourself become your father and I already know that you're not."

He kissed me then; he cupped my face in his hands and kissed me like he savored the whole experience. It was sort of sweet, but in a way that also had force behind it. Not the bad kind of force, just like there was something propping it up. I wanted to jump into his lap. I could have cried.

"There's something else I have to tell you," I said, reluctant, after he pulled away. "I really hate to ruin the moment, like a lot, but that night my dad showed up he followed me home from the Paper Lantern."

_What am I doing? What am I saying?_ I wondered, but still unable to stop myself from confessing the kiss Warren and I shared. It felt wrong to let Lash kiss me that way, to look at me that way, when there was something important he didn't know.

"So?" he asked, eyes focused squarely on my lips.

"Let me finish," I sighed, chewing my cheek. "I was at the Paper Lantern because I went to talk to Warren. I told him I'd had a crush on him since forever and kissed him – so stupid I know – but I thought it would like get him out of my system or something. We ended up making out behind the restaurant, and that wasn't my intention at all, and then all that stuff happened with my dad and then with you and..."

"Senka," he interrupted, drawing back and suddenly focused. "Why are you telling me this?"

"Well would you rather I not?" I countered, confused. "It wouldn't be right to make up but keep something like that from you."

"Do you want to be with Warren?" he asked, serious as I'd ever seen him.

"Not that again," I complained, rolling my eyes. "I hadn't even really meant for it to happen, and it was like a month and a half ago or something. If I wanted to be with Warren this – right here, right now – would not be happening.".

"It's a yes or no question," Lash said, voice like steel.

"No," I said, simple, straight, and to the point. Definitely not, especially since right then I wanted to windmill kick Warren Peace square in his beautiful face.

With that, Lash leaned over and kissed me again, like I didn't think I've ever been kissed before. God, I'd missed him so much. Before I knew it, we were totally making out in public and the table between us was really jabbing me.

"Can we go somewhere more comfortable, please?" I asked, breathless, as soon as he let me pull away. Wordlessly, we found our way to his truck, and then his house. His father must have been out of the house and the place was cleaner than I'd ever seen. Had they hired a maid? For probably the first time ever, I wasn't afraid to sit on his couch, where we resumed our activities with fervor.

"Lash," I let out a moan when his mouth had hit a particularly sensitive spot on my neck. It seemed to egg him on, because he kept it up until I couldn't say much of anything anymore from exhaustion. We migrated to his room before that, though, and I silently thanked my father for some of the best parental advice I'd received in a while. Though I had a feeling the result wasn't what he'd been hoping for when he gave it to me… As we laid side by side on Lash's bed, my face comfortably buried in the crook of his neck, I knew we were alright.

* * *

**fin chapter**

title is an homage to roswell. brownie points if you can tell me whyyyy


	11. eleven

**Weather Girl**

Summary: Senka Poe has been in love with Warren Peace for...well, forever. As a senior, a series of changes cause her to reconsider pretty much her entire life and nothing is like she thought it would be. Especially with Warren. WarrenOC eventual, LashOC

Disclaimer: I pretty much claim nothing.

Just a note: I haven't stolen this story from Moontrimmer. It's an old pen name of mine, and when I finally started re-writing this, I realized I had no idea what email I was using two or so years ago.

WHAT IS PROJECT REVAMP/REWRITE?: I was working on my magical yearly update and decided to go back and read through the story so far. Then for the next 12 hours I went through and proceeded to revamp every single chapter, and some were almost completely rewritten. Enjoy.

**THIS CHAPTER GOT REVAMPED ON AUGUST 5th, 2012.**

Pre-Project Revamp notes on this chapter:

It's come to my attention that I'm ten chapters in with Lash and Senka going strong. So if you're looking for some Warren/Senka fluff or something, this isn't the story. As the poem this chapter is named after infers, there isn't some well-known truth about what love is or how it works. Besides, I'm a cynic, not a romantic.

**PS GUYS,** READ THE COMPANION TO THIS FIC, "The Sign Said Stop, But We Went On Whole-Hearted." IT'S ABOUT SENKA'S PARENTS. DO IT.

* * *

**our history books refer to it in cryptic little notes**

Lash and I were alright. In fact, after our talk at the coffee shop (and what transpired afterwards) I felt better about our relationship than ever. It was difficult to explain; it felt like we'd reached a new level or understanding and intimacy and it sounds _so_ cliché but, well, we didn't just have sex, we had something deeper. If I proclaimed 'we made love,' that would be too far into the realm of cliché, but I started to think about that time that maybe I did love Lash. In some ways, I'd lost track of how long we'd been together, but with the end of the school year on the horizon, it'd been substantial. The idea seemed crazy to me, _being in love_, and I didn't really know what it meant. Sure, movies and books and a million other media all around me were giving me this lovely and idealized picture of love and romance – that happily ever after shit – but I never thought of it like that. After all, nothing in my life would ever like in the books or movies.

Of course, it didn't help that Warren was still in picture to complicate things, same as ever. When Lash and I walked together through the halls, I could be certain Warren was off sulking, determined that he knew everything and knew better than everyone else. Our mutual friends hadn't exactly been overjoyed at the prospect of Lash and I together for certain instead of in limbo, but they learned to accept it. Maj, in particular, was helpful on that front. Even though she and Zach were a completely different story, she knew a thing or two about being part of a couple other people didn't understand.

"You have to go with what feels right," she explained. "If you really care about Lash, then that's who you should be with. Don't be in a relationship to make _me_ happy, Senka. Do it for you."

My mother felt a similar way. She knew Lash pretty well at that point, from how much I talked about him and the few times they'd seen each other. One thing I loved about my mother was that she looked at him and tried to see what I did. Mom didn't get caught up in what Lash did at any point in his life and opened her heart and home to him because, as she put it: "Who am I to question the heart? I want you to enjoy the good parts of a man while you can, Senka, because if you don't, then you're left with nothing when it's over."

Of course, the pain that my father left behind in her revealed itself a lot in statements like that. But regardless of her cynicism, she had always tried so hard, harder than anyone I knew, to see the good in people. With everything that had happened to me since my dad came into the picture two months before – yeah it was hard to believe that much time had passed – I learned I get that from her two. Why else would I have been dating an ex-villain (was it appropriate to call Lash that?) and remained open to spending time with my once completely absent father? And if Warren hadn't been so busy glaring and being a jerk, I'd probably have forgiven him just as easily.

~~~~LINEBREAK ~~~~~~LINEBREAK~~~~~~~

No one would ever have called me the best student at Sky High, or the most motivated, and I wasn't afraid to admit it. I just spent so much time with my head in the clouds (pun not intended) and I frankly lacked an interest in a lot of the subjects we studied. "Super" related subjects in particular always gave me trouble (ie, Mad Science). I did better in my ordinary classes, which I could thank hero-support designation for.

That particular day, I was pondering how quickly and easily I'd acclimated to life with Josef Storm in it, and also my impending graduation. Both of those things scared me very much and I'd been mulling over them during Hero History, and then afterward on my way to lunch. I walked into the lunchroom and expected to see the sort of thing I saw any other day; a bunch of superhero teens lounging about, talking, and eating really crappy cafeteria food. But that day I was in for a surprise: I had walked straight into a fight. Not just a random fight, either, but one between two very familiar figures: Warren and Lash. They were engaged in what looked to be a bloody fight, too. Even though Warren was a pyro and Lash super stretchy, instead of battling it out like future superheroes, they rolled around on the floor exchanging punches like barbarians.

_I swear every time I think things are starting to mellow out!_ I thought angrily and tried to get closer to the commotion. I'd seen fights before, sure, but it was different this time, for obvious reasons. I pushed my way through the crowd to reach the pair of hooligans. The beautiful, blue sky outside visible from the large windows of the cafeteria became noticeably darker; a very loud rumble of thunder filled the gym, shaking even the tables, and the boys stopped. Lash and Warren broke apart to see me standing above them, a disapproving look on my face, and tapping my foot in annoyance and impatience.

That was the exact look I gave them both when they emerged from detention later that day. Lash looked guilty and tried to suck up to me by wrapping his arms around my waist and giving me a kiss on the forehead.

"You, Mister, are in pretty big trouble," I told him as he pulled away and I disentangled myself from his arms. "But I'll save that for later. Right now I want to talk to Warren…alone."

Lash gave me a skeptical look, but with a sigh he acquiesced. He gave me a quick hug he told me he'd see me later. That left Warren and I alone in the corridor and I honestly didn't know whether to bash his head in or kick him in the groin.

"What is your problem?" I asked. "What would possess you to start a fight with Lash in the middle of the cafeteria?"

_Are you on your man period? _Remained the unspoken question at the end of my sentence.

"What makes you think I started it?" he asked, and gave me a smartass grin. In return, I gave him a pointed look; we both knew Lash hadn't started that fight. Lash might not have been the smartest kid in class but he was not an idiot. He also wasn't interested in getting on my bad side over something stupid.

"Oh alright," Warren conceded after only a few seconds. "But he rubbed your relationship in my face. I know what he did to you, how can I just watch while you frolic through the fucking hallways like it's the yellow brick road?"

I sighed. Did it always have to come back to that? His comment was exactly why Warren and I hadn't spoken much since that day he gave me a ride. Not because of my father, but because he was fixated. I was tired of it.

"Warren," I began, stern. "I don't know how to make this any clearer to you: you need to back off. It was never any of your business and now it's in the past."

"Yeah, you say that now, but just wait until he does it again!" Warren exclaimed. "You deserve better than him, Senka."

The look I gave him screamed of exasperation. There was no way I could make Warren understand what'd happened between Lash and I. I knew wouldn't ever understand. But his bit about how I "deserved better" pissed me off. What was it even supposed to mean? That I was supposed to sit around and wait for some glorious and perfect knight in shining armor to come galloping by on his big white horse? Fuck that. My relationship with Lash would never be perfect but we were two imperfect people. It was enough. It didn't have to last forever or be perfect to be enough.

"Like who, Warren? You?" I asked, angry. "Lash cares about me and I don't hold his past against him!"

"Yeah, maybe like me," he answered and I stared up at him in shock. "Because I care about you too. You think I didn't notice you? I sat next to you on the bus our very first day, before you ever saw me _I saw you_. If I would have known…look, Lash is a fucking villain and you can't trust him not to hurt you."

"Warren, what are you saying?" my heart was on the ground – no wait, it had exploded. "I was crazy about you, ever since you shared the locker next to mine freshman year. How did you not notice? Just..ugh… not me anymore, Warren. You were too late, it's that simple…You lost your chance!"

"Then give me another one!" He shouted. "Damnit, Senka, give me another chance. You and I both know there was something special between us when you kissed me behind The Paper Lantern. I can't forget about it or you."

The whole room spun around me. I was lucky my feet managed to stay glued to the floor. In all my stupid and pathetic dreams in which Warren Peace confessed his attraction to me, I never had a boyfriend and I never turned him down. The boy I had always considered the love of my freaking life told me he couldn't stop thinking about me since I kissed him but all I could do was think of the boyfriend whom I had only started dating because I felt guilty. Whom I thought I might have been in love with. It was seriously fucked up. Naturally, I did the only thing a girl in that kind of situation could do: I resisted pulling my hair out and instead ran the other way.

~~~~LINEBREAK ~~~~~~LINEBREAK~~~~~~~

I sat in my room at home later that night and thought back to the night Lash and I made up. I remembered the way his mouth felt on mine, on my neck, and everywhere else. I thought about the way he said my name and the way he looked at me, and how whether we were in the act or not, it was always the same. I thought back to his words…_I never wanted space. I only wanted you_.

I felt angry with Warren for putting such a burden on my shoulders during our argument. It hadn't been fair of him. Lash was known to make mistakes as far as respecting my decisions, but Warren had a losing record. It didn't matter whether or not Warren wanted me, I realized. I couldn't place my finger where along the line it had happened, but I just wanted Lash. I didn't "deserve someone better" – though I thought bitterly I did deserve someone better than Warren.

Love was tricky, scary idea to me. I was afraid of it as much as I longer for it, and I had no idea what it was. But I did know that Warren might have been everything I dreamed of for three years, but Lash was what I wanted... What I needed! I didn't know for sure even at that moment if I loved Lash, per se, because I never thought of myself as the kind of person who loved very well. Whatever I felt with him, though, it bubbled up inside me and I couldn't fight the overwhelming desire to hunt Lash down and tell him exactly what I felt. It tugged at my heart so violently I thought it might burst from my chest and fly straight out the window to find if I didn't go first.

It was a definite turning point for me (growing up, maybe?). I called Lash to ask him if he could come over, but he said he couldn't because he was at work. I looked outside, seeing the weather reflecting my mood, and made up my mind. In what felt like a trance, I went outside, sped through the shadows, and found myself standing in front of a Circle K minimart in a matter of seconds. Taking a deep breath, I mustered up all my courage, and walked straight up to the counter.

"Hi, what can I do—Senka?" Lash turned to face me, surprised that I was standing there and still kind of wet from the rain. "What are you doing here?"

_Now or never, Senka. Just do it!_

"Lash, I love you," I said seriously, before leaning over the counter, taking his face in my hands, and giving him what had to be the best kiss of his life. At least that's what I went for. Considering one kiss turned into a make out session across a mini-mart counter, it very well might have been the best. Lash's boss broke up apart, though; he stood behind us clearing his throat very loudly until Lash pulled away.

"I'll take that as an 'I love you too'?" I asked with a grin. He actually rolled his eyes at me.

"You get a genius award—now go before I get fired!" was his reply, but the goofy smile that was on his face and the wink he gave me said it all.

I felt rightly satisfied with myself, and left with a wave, having never been so happy to walk around in April rain before in my life. I took a moment to ponder whether or not my feelings for Warren would ever actually disappear- I couldn't help it that every time I saw him it was like getting a painful but not necessarily bad punch to the gut. There was just something about Warren Peace that always kept me anchored to him. I tried not to remember the first time I spotted him walking down the hallway, but the memory came to me anyway. I'd been a scared, little freshman so angry about being made a sidekick and I just wasn't able to get my locker open and who then couldn't reach her damned book. Then along came a guy with long dark hair and smoldering eyes. Everything slowed down like I'd been transplanted into some corny movie. He'd worn some leather jacket. My heart had promptly dropped all the way to my toes.

By the time I reached home, I was more than ready for de-stressing. Lash and Warren's fighting aside, it had been an okay day, if not eventful.

"Hey honey!" My mom called out from the kitchen. "Where have you been?"

"Oh, I ran to see Lash really quickly," I answered and kicked off my shoes, leaving a path of mud and water. "By the way, I will clean that up."

"Er, thanks," Mom laughed. "Oh, and there's a letter for you on the counter. Looks important, you know."

On my way to the couch, I grabbed the stack of mail sitting on the counter and looked through it. _Junk, junk, bills, more junk…college letter_? With such recent developments as my father's reappearance in my life and my relationship with Lash, the colleges I'd applied to were the last things on my mind. The name on the letter informed me it was from the University of Maxville. Slowly and carefully I opened the envelope, held my breath as if breathing would somehow ruin the moment, and took the plunge.

_Dear Ms. Poe:_

_We are pleased to offer you a spot in the University of Maxville's latest incoming class_…

The first line was the only thing I needed to read. The world felt wide open. Just one sentence and my future seemed so much clearer. I had not been particularly interested in graduating and going into the super-work force. As a sidekick, I would undoubtedly be assigned to some hero and be expected to tag along to fight crime. If I said it was a desire of mine to do that, I'd have been lying. I hadn't a clue whether or not I was actually going to attend U of M or not. I had no idea what my future would bring. But with that acceptance letter in my hand, the world would never seem more infinite.

* * *

**fin chapter**

And this brings an end to project revamp.

reviews = love

3 hearts and shit 33


	12. a quick update for all of you

hello all!

this is just a note! I wanted to announce that weather girl recently underwent PROJECT REVAMP/REWRITE. all the chapters have been rewritten at least partially, some far more than others. I am currently working on the next chapter. it is about a quarter of the way done but I am struggling to figure out where to take it at the moment. I hope to have the time before my semester starts getting very intense to work on it some more. There will be minimum one update this calendar year, I promise. some people might think that isn't saying much, but considering how much writing and reading I have to do for school each semester on top of my job, that's actually saying a lot. I could just put it on hiatus or drop it, but I won't. I want to finish it. you're just going to have to be reeeaalllyy patient!

xoxo

sara

p.s. I REALLY recommend you reread this story. my writing style has changed since I was sixteen or seventeen and started this (which was ironically enough a rewrite in itself), as has the way I look at situations, so both of those are reflected. I hope Senka feels a bit more fleshed out to you, Warren perhaps a bit more IC (it is embarrassing how bad I am at writing canon characters), and the overall interactions and reactions feel more real to you. Some chapters were almost entirely redone, so things might not be as same as you remember! But I hope I have retained the spirit of the story with which I began...but better.

p.p.s. BUT, before I go, let leave you with a teaser for installment #12!

* * *

**i don't feel anything until i smash it up**

_"I wish I could know that like you do, Mom, but I only live in the present," I reminded her, my tone wistful._

_"Never say you want what I have, Senka," my mother said sharply and her sad eyes drew mine up from my plate to pierce me to the wall with their intensity. "The future is what it is and I have no power to change it. Don't wish that burden upon yourself."_

_Marianna Poe rarely fixed me with a serious stare or spoke in a sharp tone. My mother, for almost as long as I could remember, had always been very laid back and go-with-the-flow. She was more the best friend type of mom than the strict authoritarian. Imagine, then, how strange that moment felt for me. I had never really thought about what it meant for my mom to experience the future twice when there were plenty of things she never wanted to experience once._

_"I'll stick with weather then," I declared, smiling, and tried to lighten the mood before my brothers came downstairs. The fact that by brothers still lived at home as full-fledged adults confused me. I wondered when they were going to get their own lives._

_"Good," she said, quiet._

_A good slice of guilt was the perfect way to start the morning, right?_

* * *

hope to be getting the whole thing to you soon!chin up, lovelies. I've put up a deep space nine collection of snippets that is ever growing, so you can check that out if you're interested in what kind of stuff I'm writing these days. I also published the first of a three-parter set in the BBC series _Merlin,_ which will shortly be complete. The entire thing is written but the second and third part are not ready to go up yet.

_kirk out! _


End file.
